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barbaric

[bahr-bar-ik]
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adjective
  1. without civilizing influences; uncivilized; primitive: barbaric invaders.
  2. of, like, or befitting barbarians: a barbaric empire; barbaric practices.
  3. crudely rich or splendid: barbaric decorations.

Origin of barbaric

1480–90; < Latin barbaricus < Greek barbarikós. See barbarous, -ic
Related formsbar·bar·i·cal·ly, adverbnon·bar·bar·ic, adjectivepre·bar·bar·ic, adjective

Synonym study

1, 3. See barbarian.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for barbarically

Historical Examples

  • It was barbarically hung with banners, but it was not exactly a cheery place.

    The Pirates of Ersatz

    Murray Leinster

  • The outer walls are barbarically huge and heavy, and superb in color.

    The Near East

    Robert Hichens

  • It was only Carlotta on her barbarically betrapped and besaddled mule.

  • She was dreaming that Anna Zanidov stood before her in the barbarically painted evening gown.

    Sacrifice

    Stephen French Whitman

  • For the nomad of the fire-wheel was a girl, tall and slender, barbarically arrayed in the holiday garb of a Seminole chief.

    Diane of the Green Van

    Leona Dalrymple

British Dictionary definitions for barbarically

barbaric

adjective
  1. of or characteristic of barbarians
  2. primitive or unsophisticated; unrestrained
  3. brutal
Derived Formsbarbarically, adverb

Word Origin

C15: from Latin barbaricus foreign, outlandish; see barbarous
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for barbarically

barbaric

adj.

late 15c., "uncultured, uncivilized, unpolished," from French barbarique (15c.), from Latin barbaricus "foreign, strange, outlandish," from Greek barbarikos "like a foreigner," from barbaros "foreign, rude" (see barbarian). Meaning "pertaining to barbarians" is from 1660s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper