Neanderthal

American  

[nee-an-der-thawl, -tawl, -tahl, nay-ahn-der-tahl] / niˈæn dərˌθɔl, -ˌtɔl, -ˌtɑl, neɪˈɑn dərˌtɑl /

Also Neandertal

adjective

1. of or relating to Neanderthal man.

2. (often lowercase) primitive, unenlightened, or reactionary; culturally or intellectually backward.

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noun

• Neanderthals
  plural

1. Neanderthal man.

2. (often lowercase)

   1. an unenlightened or ignorant person; barbarian.

   2. a reactionary; a person with very old-fashioned ideas.

Neanderthal British  

/ nɪˈændəˌtɑːl /

adjective

1. relating to or characteristic of Neanderthal man

2. primitive; uncivilized

3. informal ultraconservative; reactionary

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noun

1. a person showing any such characteristics

Neanderthal Scientific  

/ nē-ăn′dər-thôl′,-tôl′ /

1. An extinct variety of human that lived throughout Europe and in parts of western Asia and northern Africa during the late Pleistocene Epoch, until about 30,000 years ago. Neanderthals had a stocky build and large skulls with thick eyebrow ridges and big teeth. They usually lived in caves, made flaked stone tools, and were the earliest humans known to bury their dead. Neanderthals were either a subspecies of modern humans (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) or a separate, closely related species (Homo neanderthalensis). They coexisted with early modern humans (Cro-Magnons) for several thousand years before becoming extinct, but are not generally believed to have interbred with them.

2. See also Mousterian

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Neanderthal Cultural  

1. The ancient and now extinct relatives of modern humans. Neanderthals lived in Europe about 150,000 years ago and were the earliest form of the human species, Homo sapiens.

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Discover More

The term Neanderthal is sometimes used to refer to a person who is thought to have primitive or unenlightened ideas: “I tried talking politics to Joe, but he's a real Neanderthal.”

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Neanderthaler
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Neanderthals
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Neanderthal

First recorded in 1860–65; after Neanderthal, valley in Germany, near Düsseldorf, where evidence of Neanderthal man was first found

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Explanation

A neanderthal is someone who is rude and not very smart. If your brother interrupts your garden party by spraying your guests with a hose, you can call him a neanderthal. When neanderthal is spelled with a lower-case n, it means a cretin or a dolt — a rough, mean, and slightly foolish person. If you spell it with a capital N, it means an extinct species of human being, and it's the root of the lower-case version. The word Neanderthal is German, named for the Neander Valley where human fossils have been found, and around 1926 neanderthal became popular British slang for a "big, brutish, stupid person."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Neanderthal Neanderthals

The Neanderthal found directly above it had been arranged in a similar position.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026

Those remains involved another Neanderthal who lived more recently, around 50, 000 years ago.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

A Neanderthal who died 75,000 years ago may have been struck through the chest by a sharpened wooden spear, archaeologists say.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Beyond revealing another possible dimension of Neanderthal behavior, the discovery may also have implications for modern medicine.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

She looked down and realized that she, too, now had a lovely Neanderthal body - belly hair, loincloth, stubby legs and oversized feet.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

Far from fitting the outdated stereotype of Neanderthals as simple, brutal creatures, Shanidar A provides rare physical evidence of a society capable of both deadly violence and sustained compassion.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026

During the 1950s, excavations led by archaeologist Ralph Solecki uncovered the remains of ten Neanderthals.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026

We can't tell for sure whether these Neanderthals were hurt by a companion during a hunt or murdered by a rival.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Remains of at least 10 Neanderthals were discovered in excavations in the cave in the 1950s.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Since Neanderthals and Denisovans contributed only a small amount of DNA to our present-day genome, it is impossible to speak of a ‘merger’ between Sapiens and other human species.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

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