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brunt

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brunt¹

  • /bɹʌnt/
  • /bɹʊnt/ Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌnt

Where it comes from

From Middle English brunt, bront (“sudden onset, attack, charge, blow”), from Old Norse brundr or brundtíð (“oestrus, rut”) (from Proto-Germanic *brunstiz), or bruna (“to rush”, literally “to advance like wildfire”) (see brenna).

noun brunts

  1. The full adverse effects; the chief consequences or negative results of a thing or event. Unfortunately, poor areas such as those in New Orleans bore the brunt of Hurricane Katrina’s winds.
  2. The force or shock of an attack in war.
  3. The major part of something; the bulk. If you feel tired of walking, just think of the poor donkey who has carried the brunt of our load.
  4. obsolete A violent attack or charge in battle. Tech[elles]. I heare them come, ſhall wee encounter them? Tam[burlaine]. Keep all your ſtandings, and not ſtir a foot, Myſelfe will bide the danger of the brunt.
  5. broadly, obsolete A sudden harmful onset or attack (of disease, unbelief, persecution, etc.).
  6. obsolete A spurt, a sudden effort or straining.

verb brunts · brunting · brunted

  1. rare, transitive To bear the brunt of; to weather or withstand. "… I say." Ripton resumed the serious intonation, "do you think they'll ever suspect us?" "What if they do? We must brunt it." We brunted the storm.
  2. intransitive, obsolete To make a violent attack or charge.

Brunt²

Where it comes from

* As an English surname, from placenames derived from the adjective burnt. Compare Brent.

* As an Irish surname, variant of Prunty.

* As a Dutch surname, possibly a variant of Bruns.

proper noun Brunts

  1. A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: victim, worst, onus, detriment, shock, alleviation, burden, load, onslaught, clout, bigger, impact, essential, blow, bulk, fresh

Translations

Every language

noun full effects

Españolmayor fuerza, lo más duro, peor parte
DeutschHauptlast, Wucht

noun major part of something

DeutschHauptsache
Românămajoritate, gros
العربيةجُلّ jull, مُعْظَم muʕẓam, أَكْثَر ʔakṯar

verb to bear the brunt of something

Deutschaushalten, ertragen

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Cite this
MLA

"brunt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/brunt. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

brunt. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/brunt

Chicago

"brunt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/brunt.

BibTeX
@misc{brunt_2026,
  title = {brunt},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/brunt},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}