atavistic
[ at-uh-vis-tik ]
/ ˌæt əˈvɪs tɪk /
adjective
of, relating to, or characterized by atavism; reverting to or suggesting the characteristics of a remote ancestor or primitive type.
Words nearby atavistic
atascadero, ataturk, kemal, atatürk, atavic, atavism, atavistic, ataxia, ataxia telangiectasia, ataxiaphasia, ataxic, ataxic abasia
OTHER WORDS FROM atavistic
at·a·vis·ti·cal·ly, adverbDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for atavistic
British Dictionary definitions for atavistic
atavistic
/ (ˌætəˈvɪstɪk) /
adjective
of or relating to reversion to a former or more primitive type
Derived forms of atavistic
atavistically, adverbCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Science definitions for atavistic
atavistic
[ ăt′ə-vĭs′tĭk ]
Relating to an inherited trait that reappears in an individual after being absent from a strain of organism for several generations. Atavistic traits were formerly thought to be throwbacks to ancestral types but are now known to be due to the inheritance of a pair of recessive genes.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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