# savage

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈsævɪd͡ʒ/ · frequency rank #6,616

## Definitions
1. Wild; not cultivated or tamed.
2. Barbaric; not civilized.
3. Primitive; lacking complexity or sophistication.
4. Fierce and ferocious.
5. Brutal, vicious, or merciless.
6. Of an insult or person: disrespectful, audacious, and either blunt or sarcastic, in a hilarious way.
7. Unpleasant or unfair.
8. Great, brilliant, amazing.
9. Severe, rude, aggressive.

## Etymology
From Middle English savage, from Old French sauvage, salvage (“wild, untamed”), from Late Latin salvāticus, alteration of Latin silvāticus (“wild”, literally “of the woods”), from silva (“forest; grove”). Doublet of sylvatic.

## Easily confused with
- **save** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/savage-vs-save)
- **stage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/savage-vs-stage)
- **sewage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/savage-vs-sewage)
- **savant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/savage-vs-savant)
- **savages** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/savage-vs-savages)
- **savagery** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/savage-vs-savagery)
- **savagely** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/savage-vs-savagely)
- **sage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sage-vs-savage)
- **sausage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sausage-vs-savage)
- **salvage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salvage-vs-savage)

## Common misspellings (8)
`asvage`, `saavge`, `savaeg`, `savagge`, `savgae`, `savvage`, `ssavage`, `svaage`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/savage