Somewhat like a beast; crude, uncouth, or brutish in manner or appearance.
Combination of 'beast' (from Latin 'bestia') and the suffix '-ish,' which means 'somewhat like' or 'having qualities of.' This formation follows common English patterns for creating adjectives.
The '-ish' suffix is incredibly productive in English—you can add it to almost anything to mean 'somewhat like that thing,' which is why we can describe behavior as beastish, snobbish, or childish with immediate clarity.
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