Translation guide
The quality of being cruel, violent, and merciless. In Japanese, this concept is expressed through nouns describing the act or nature of cruelty, adjectives for brutal actions or people, and idiomatic phrases emphasizing harshness.
Describing acts or the inherent quality of extreme cruelty and violence.
A common noun/adjective meaning 'brutal' or 'cruel', often used for inhuman acts or nature.
His brutal acts are unforgivable.
Means 'cruelty' or 'brutality', often implying heartlessness. Very common in everyday and literary contexts.
Cruel treatment of animals is a crime.
Implies inhumanity and injustice, often used for outrageous brutality or wickedness.
They tormented people in a brutal manner.
Refers to tyranny or outrageous violence, often used in historical or political contexts.
They committed every kind of brutality.
Focusing on the physical aspect of brutality, such as beatings or savage attacks.
General term for 'violence', often used in contexts of physical brutality.
He tried to solve the problem with brutality.
Means 'cruel treatment' or 'atrocious act', emphasizing the merciless nature of the brutality.
Idiomatic phrase meaning 'cold-blooded' or 'without mercy', literally 'having neither blood nor tears'.
His methods are sheer brutality.
Describing brutal conditions, such as weather, work, or life circumstances.
Means 'severe', 'harsh', or 'brutal', often used for conditions, environments, or treatment.
They protested against the brutal working conditions.
Common word for 'strict' or 'severe', can imply brutality when describing conditions or treatment.
Both mean 'cruel' or 'brutal', but 残忍 emphasizes the violent, savage aspect, while 残酷 focuses on the heartlessness and lack of mercy. 残酷 is more common in everyday speech.
There is no single Japanese word that covers all nuances of 'brutality'. Choose the word based on context: physical violence (暴力), cruel nature (残酷), or harsh conditions (過酷). Using a direct translation like ブルータリティ is not natural.
The brutality against prisoners was revealed.
自然の厳しさに直面した。
They faced the brutality of nature.