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Entry 7 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Savage

/săv'-əj/ · Sav·age · IPA /ˈsævɪd͡ʒ/
01 a. Of or pertaining to the forest; remote from human abodes and cultivation; in a state of nature; wild; as, a savage wilderness.
  1. 1.
    Of or pertaining to the forest; remote from human abodes and cultivation; in a state of nature; wild; as, a savage wilderness.
  2. 2.
    Wild; untamed; uncultivated; as, savage beasts.
    “Cornels, and savage berries of the wood.” — Dryden.
  3. 3.
    Uncivilized; untaught; unpolished; rude; as, savage life; savage manners.
    “What nation, since the commencement of the Christian era, ever rose from savage to civilized without Christianity?” — E. D. Griffin.
  4. 4.
    Characterized by cruelty; barbarous; fierce; ferocious; inhuman; brutal; as, a savage spirit.
Syn. Ferocious; wild; uncultivated; untamed; untaught; uncivilized; unpolished; rude; brutish; brutal; heathenish; barbarous; cruel; inhuman; fierce; pitiless; merciless; unmerciful; atrocious. See Ferocious.
02 n. A human being in his native state of rudeness; one who is untaught, uncivilized, or without cultivation of mind or manners.
  1. 1.
    A human being in his native state of rudeness; one who is untaught, uncivilized, or without cultivation of mind or manners.
  2. 2.
    A man of extreme, unfeeling, brutal cruelty; a barbarian.
03 v. t. To make savage.
  1. 1.
    To make savage.[R.]
    “Its bloodhounds, savaged by a cross of wolf.” — Southey.