brusque

adj

1. Rudely abrupt; curt, unfriendly.

   “Mr. VValler, being probably of opinion that Monſieur Palamede’s arguments vvere too bruſque to be advanc’d in a diſpute vvith a Lady, vvho number’d not fevver than tvventy Kings of her progenitors, vvrote this poem in a more tender and courtly ſtyle; […]”

   “[A]ll the answer Miss Jarron got was a brusque refusal, followed by Mr. Camperton's retreat from the piano.”

   “Father Falkener vvas, at the time of this viſit, 'about ſeventy years of age, active in mind and body, bruſque in his manners,' and very communicative.”

   “"Cynthia Courtown seems as lively as ever," said Miss Gusset. / "Yes, lively enough, but I wish her manner was less brusque." / "Brusque indeed! you may well say to: she nearly pushed me down in the hall; and when I looked as if I thought she might have given me a little more room, she tossed her head and said, "Beg pardon, never saw you!"”

   “He was brusque, authoritative, given to contradiction, rough though never dirty in his personal belongings, and inclined to indulge in a sort of quiet raillery which sometimes was not thoroughly understood.”

2. (obsolete)Sour, tart.

   “[T]he thin and bruske harſh vvine doth nouriſh the bodie leſſe, but yet more agreeable and nutritive it is to the ſtomack.”

verb

1. (archaic, transitive)To act towards (someone or something) in a curt or rudely abrupt manner.

   “Had this been done, Denine had not been bruſqued and carried by Villars at the firſt aſſault, […]”

   “He was indefatigable while he stayed and took true pains, but he brusqued the ministers too much, and I found after he was gone that he had thereby given more offense than I could have imagined.”

   “Not that I suspect you of thus brusquing matters. It is rather my own fault where, which is too often the case, I am not too negligent about the spiritual concerns of my friends.”

   “I'll e'en brusque it a little, if he goes on at this rate, and try if I can bring him to a more intelligible mode of speaking.”

   “[H]e [Thomas Pringle] was poor, and from the outset [William] Blackwood domineered over and brusqued him. [James] Cleghorn was also poor, but of a sturdy disposition, and he brusqued every body.”

name

1. A municipality of Santa Catarina, Brazil.