Also 7 brusk(e, 9 brusk. [a. F. brusque, according to Littré, etc., adapted in 16th c. from Italian brusco ‘soure, tarte, eagre, briske, vnripe; also soure- or grim-looking’ (Florio); cf. Sp. and Pg. brusco ‘rude, peevish, ill-tempered, roughly hasty.’ The ulterior history is uncertain: one conjecture refers it to the Celtic words mentioned under BRISK, which is hardly likely, if the Romanic word appeared first in Italian. See Diez and Littré. Commonly spelt brusk in the 17th c., but now usually spelt and often pronounced as French. (Cf. also BRUSSLY.)]
† 1. Tart. (= It. brusco.) Obs.
1601. Holland, Pliny, II. 152. The thin and bruske harsh wine nourisheth the body lesse.
[1752. Lady M. W. Montague, Lett., lxxvi. IV. 23. A sort of wine they call brusco.]
2. Somewhat rough or rude in manner; blunt, ‘offhand.’
1651. Reliq. Wotton. (1685), 582. The Scotish Gentlemen … lately sent to that King, found … but a brusk welcome.
1757. H. Walpole, Corr. (1837), I. 370. This sounds brusque, but I will explain it.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, II. xv. 80. Yes, lively enough, but I wish her manner was less brusque. Ibid. (1870), Lothair, xlvi. 243. He was brusk, ungracious, scowling, and silent.
1879. McCarthy, Own Times, II. xxii. 123. His blunt, brusque ways of speaking and writing.
