beast

noun

ˈbēst How to pronounce beast (audio)
Synonyms of beastnext
1
a
: a four-footed mammal as distinguished from other animals
b
: an animal that is not a human being
c
: an animal as distinguished from a plant
d
: an animal under human control
2
: a contemptible person
3
: something formidably difficult to control or deal with

Synonyms of beast

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of beast in a Sentence

dogs and other four-footed beasts the birds and beasts of the forest They were attacked by a savage beast. He's a cruel, hateful beast!
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The writer-producer set his Beauty and the Beast in a fantastical subway world beneath New York City, with Hamilton portraying an assistant district attorney and Perlman the mythic, noble man-beast. — Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2026 Asked what was going on in his head during those hours in the belly of the beast, though, Abrams demures. — Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 18 Oct. 2026 Transformation scenes can be unintentionally laughable, and no one has fully figured out how to make a wolf-human hybrid look less like a fall-season impulse buy at Home Depot and more like a terrifically terrifying beast. — Eve Batey, Vanity Fair, 16 Oct. 2026 One whale metaphor that lands quite nicely is how the sperm whale calls out for help when in distress, which inspires a Hail Mary plan in Jay’s fight for freedom from the belly of the beast. — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for beast

Word History

Etymology

Middle English beste, from Anglo-French, from Latin bestia

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of beast was in the 13th century

Phrases Containing beast

Rhymes for beast

See All Rhymes for beast

Browse Nearby Words

beaslings
beast
beast epic
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Beast.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beast. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

beast

noun
ˈbēst How to pronounce beast (audio)
1
a
: a four-footed mammal as distinguished from human beings and from lower animals both with and without backbones
b
: a farm animal especially when kept for heavy work
2
: a mean or brutal person
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All