brusque
/bɹʊsk/adjective
brusque is spelled B-R-U-S-Q-U-E: 7 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,838th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, brusque means “Rudely abrupt; curt, unfriendly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in brusque?
| Letters | 7: B-R-U-S-Q-U-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 60,838th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is brusque?
Brusque appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,838th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce brusque?
- UK /bɹʊsk/
- UK /bɹuːsk/
- UK /bɹʌsk/
Brusque has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-brusque.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of brusque
- brusquer comparative
- more brusque comparative
- brusquest superlative
- most brusque superlative
- brusk
- brusques present, singular, he/she/it
- brusquing participle, present
- brusqued participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does brusque mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Rudely abrupt; curt, unfriendly.
- 2
obsoleteSour, tart.
verb
- 1
archaicTo act towards (someone or something) in a curt or rudely abrupt manner.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Brusque in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense rudely abrupt – see also curt, unfriendly:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does brusque come from?
The adjective is borrowed from French brusque, from Italian brusco (“abrupt, sudden, brusque; brisk; eager; sour, tart; unripe; grim-looking”); further etymology unknown. The verb is derived from the adjective.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).