1
: the principal force, shock, or stress (as of an attack)
bear the brunt of the storm
the brunt of the struggle with the German army fell upon the RussiansWalter Lippmann
2
: the greater part : burden

Examples of brunt in a Sentence

the brunt of the responsibility fell on her shoulders
Recent Examples on the Web As the prices for office space in urban centers tumble, cities whose municipal budgets rely on taxes associated with commercial real estate are starting to bear the brunt. Heather Senison, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024 But when things got bad for the industry, those who bore the brunt were arguably those who weren’t doing much good anyway. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 3 Apr. 2024 How representation for the sake of representation doesn’t generate progress in the way some people seem to think, and how minorities bear the disproportionate brunt of their failures. Jason Parham, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024 As a result, nearly one in 20 business owners close their doors due to the financial brunt of divorce, the survey found. Alexa Mikhail, Fortune Well, 8 Feb. 2024 Tough Times Ahead: As the prices for office space in urban centers tumble, cities whose municipal budgets rely on taxes associated with commercial real estate are starting to bear the brunt. Michael Levenson, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2024 But the full brunt of the storm’s health impacts may not be felt for months. Zoya Teirstein, WIRED, 17 Feb. 2024 And some generations report feeling the brunt more than others. Chloe Berger, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2023 Down East Maine and Atlantic Canada were expected to bear the storm's brunt just three weeks after being hit by Tropical Storm Lee. CBS News, 7 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brunt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English

First Known Use

1769, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of brunt was in 1769

Dictionary Entries Near brunt

Cite this Entry

“Brunt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brunt. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

brunt

noun
: the main force or stress (as of an attack)
the brunt of the storm

More from Merriam-Webster on brunt

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