I am trying to translate some dialogue in which one person calls another "savage", in the modern sense of 'brutally direct and merciless in criticism, humor, or behavior.' My question is: is there a Japanese word that corresponds to this modern usage, and if not, what would be the best way to translate this?
So far, I have only been able to find words in Japanese corresponding to "savage = barbarian" (which is a dead end) and "savage = brutal" in the literal sense, but I have no idea whether the meaning carries over with any of these terms (source: jisho.org):
- 惨い {むごい} = "cruel; merciless; pitiless; brutal; atrocious; inhuman"
- 残忍酷薄 {ざんにんこくはく} = "cruel; brutal; atrocious; merciless"
- 残忍非道 {ざんにんひじょう} = "cruel and inhuman; brutal; merciless"
- 残忍冷酷 {ざんにんれいこく} = "atrocious and cold-blooded; cruel; brutal; merciless"
- 酷薄 {こくはく} = "cruel; inhumane; callous; brutal"
- 猛悪 {もうあく} = "savage; ferocious; atrocious"
As far as I can tell, these terms all refer to the more violent (original) meaning of the word.
The closest match that I have been able to find so far (as far as I can tell) is 容赦のない {ようしゃのない} "relentless, stern" from weblio.jp, but I am not sure whether that is the best translation possible.