Peck had a reputation as a brusque but fair man, with a streak of unconventionality.

He was a very brusque man, I remember.

The millionaire was a brusque man of fifty years.

He was a large, impatient, brusque man, renowned for the length of his sermons.

Upman was a brusque, square-jawed man, who never tolerated laxity on the part of his subordinates.

'Dieter is a brusque man but you will get used to him.'

The commissioner was a brusque man, who became much annoyed when interrupted while eating.

Certainly few people would have guessed that this abrupt, brusque man and the sophisticated new president of Home Safe were father and son.

Stanck seemed out of place in such a comfortable office, a brusque man with thinning brown hair and a hawk nose.

Tallis, a brusque, incisive man who is surprisingly adept at dealing with dangerous situations, appears in four novels.