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primitive

adjective · noun

Words like primitive

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32 words · adjective, nounSort by

Synonymadjective

Synonymadjective

Synonymadjective

Synonymnoun

Synonymadjective

Similar meaningadjective

noncivilised

Similar meaningadjective

noncivilized

Similar meaningadjective

untrained

Similar meaningadjective

Related words aren’t always interchangeable. Check the definition before you choose.

MEANING & USAGE

Definitions & examples

01adjective

belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness

“the crude weapons and rude agricultural implements of early man”

“primitive movies of the 1890s”

02adjective

little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type

“archaic forms of life”

“primitive mammals”

03adjective

used of preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial societies

“primitive societies”

04adjective

of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style

“primitive art such as that by Grandma Moses is often colorful and striking”

3 more meanings

05noun

a person who belongs to an early stage of civilization

06noun

a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived

07noun

a word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms

“‘pick’ is the primitive from which ‘picket’ is derived”

Meanings and examples from Open English WordNet 2025. About our sources ↗

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Expressions with “primitive”

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Explore multiword dictionary entries containing this word. Each has its own meanings and related words.

primitive art primitive person primitive idealization