brusque

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See also: Brusque and brusqué

English

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WOTD – 8 October 2022

Etymology

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The adjective is borrowed from French brusque, from Italian brusco (“abrupt, sudden, brusque; brisk; eager; sour, tart; unripe; grim-looking”); further etymology unknown.[1]

The verb is derived from the adjective.[2]

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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brusque (comparative brusquer or more brusque, superlative brusquest or most brusque)

  1. Rudely abrupt; curt, unfriendly.
    Synonyms: offhand, short
    • 1730, [Elijah] Fenton, “Observations on Some of Mr. Waller’s Poems. [To Zelinda.]”, in Edmund Waller, edited by [Elijah] Fenton, The Works of Edmund Waller, Esq; in Verse and Prose, London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], →OCLC, page cv:
      Mr. VValler, being probably of opinion that Monſieur Palamede’s arguments vvere too bruſque to be advanc’d in a diſpute vvith a Lady, vvho number’d not fevver than tvventy Kings of her progenitors, vvrote this poem in a more tender and courtly ſtyle; […]
    • 1761, “Thorpe Leigh; or, The Heir and the Owner”, in Riddell’s Review and Epitomist: A Literary Miscellany, and Record of Progress, part I, number III (New Series), London: J. H. Riddell, […], chapter XX, page 33, column 2:
      [A]ll the answer Miss Jarron got was a brusque refusal, followed by Mr. Camperton's retreat from the piano.
    • 1788 May, “Art. VI. Of the Patagonians, Formed from the Relation of Father Falkener, a Jesuit, who had Resided among Them Thirty-eight Years, and from the Different Voyagers who had Met with this Tall Race. Printed by the Friendship of George Allan, Esq; at His Private Press at Darlington, 1788, 4to. 15 Pages. [book review]”, in [Thomas Christie], editor, The Analytical Review, or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign. […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 47:
      Father Falkener vvas, at the time of this viſit, 'about ſeventy years of age, active in mind and body, bruſque in his manners,' and very communicative.
    • 1826, [Benjamin Disraeli], “Toadeys”, in Vivian Grey, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book II, pages 244–245:
      "Cynthia Courtown seems as lively as ever," said Miss Gusset. / "Yes, lively enough, but I wish her manner was less brusque." / "Brusque indeed! you may well say to: she nearly pushed me down in the hall; and when I looked as if I thought she might have given me a little more room, she tossed her head and said, "Beg pardon, never saw you!"
    • 1858, Anthony Trollope, “Dr. Thorne”, in Doctor Thorne. […], volume I, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 57:
      He was brusque, authoritative, given to contradiction, rough though never dirty in his personal belongings, and inclined to indulge in a sort of quiet raillery which sometimes was not thoroughly understood.
    • 1870, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter XV, in Lothair. […], volume II, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 161–162:
      Whether it were the absence of Theodora or some other cause, he was brusk, ungracious, scowling, and silent, only nodding to the Bishop who benignly saluted him, […]
    • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “Major —— De Coverley”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 137:
      He greeted Milo jovially each time they met and, in an excess of contrite generosity, impulsively recommended Major Major for promotion. The recommendation was rejected at once at Twenty-seventh Air Force Headquarters by ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen, who scribbled a brusque, unsigned reminder that the Army had only one Major Major Major Major and did not intend to lose him by promotion just to please Colonel Cathcart.
    • 1962 November 19, “Publishers’ Association of New York City, et al. and New York Mailers Union No. 6 International Typographical Union, AFL-CIO and Newspaper and Mail Deliverers Union”, in Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board (Cases No. 2-CA-7863 and 2-CA-7884), volume 139, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office [for the] National Labor Relations Board, published 1963, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1122:
      Where there are reasonably adequate peaceful alternatives, the use of disruptive self-help by either side of a labor dispute in so important an enterprise contributes neither to the public convenience nor to the long-term interest of the participants. For if they are unable to resolve their differences by their own restraints and inventions, other and more impatient forces may provide brusquer machinery.
    • 2005 April 29, “No soup for you? Not so fast”, in NBC News‎[1], archived from the original on 26 September 2022:
      The brusque New York chef [Ali Yeganeh] who was lampooned on "Seinfeld" as the "Soup Nazi" plans to open a chain of takeout soup stands across North America. But don’t expect the authentically rude New York treatment.
    • 2014, “The People Responsible for the Genocide”, in Wolfgang Gust, editor, The Armenian Genocide: Evidence from the German Foreign Office Archives, 1915–1916, New York, N.Y., Oxford, Oxfordshire: Berghahn Books, →ISBN, page 69:
      […] I approached the Commissioner of Deportation with a request to release some Armenians who were employed by Germans. He refused this in the brusquest manner and said to me in an incredibly arrogant tone of voice which I will never forget, ‘Vous ne comprenez pas ce que nous voulons. Nous voulons une Arménie sans Arméniens.’ [You do not understand what we want. We want an Armenia without Armenians.]
    • 2018 June 19, Gideon Lewis-Kraus, “Inside the Crypto World’s Biggest Scandal”, in Wired‎[2], San Francisco, Calif.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 July 2022:
      They admired in each other a brusque self-assurance and artless candor that others often perceived as arrogant.
    • 2019 April 28, Alex McLevy, “Game Of Thrones Suffers the Fog of War in the Battle against the Dead (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club‎[3], archived from the original on 31 May 2021:
      When Dany showed up to throw the Night King off his steed and send him plunging to earth, it was at least a coherent action, which the brusque dragon-grappling prior to it failed to convey.
  2. (obsolete) Sour, tart.

Alternative forms

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  • brusk (Britain, obsolete, or US)

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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brusque (third-person singular simple present brusques, present participle brusquing, simple past and past participle brusqued)

  1. (transitive, chiefly archaic) To act towards (someone or something) in a curt or rudely abrupt manner.

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “brusque, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2021; “brusque, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “brusque, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2018.

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian brusco. Doublet of brusc.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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brusque (plural brusques)

  1. abrupt (sudden or hasty)
    Synonyms: abrupt, brutal
  2. curt

Derived terms

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Verb

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brusque

  1. inflection of brusquer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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