Etymology

nasty, brutish, and short

Today it means: Of a hypothetical state of human life, without a government or society, and marked by constant fear, violence, and insecurity. Full definition →

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The story

Mentioned in 1651 in Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes: No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.