atavistic

[ at-uh-vis-tik ]

/ ˌæt əˈvɪs tɪk /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR atavistic ON THESAURUS.COM

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

Origin of atavistic

First recorded in 1870–75; atav(ism) + -istic

OTHER WORDS FROM atavistic

at·a·vis·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for atavistic

Sitting face to face with a Satmar man schooling her in atavistic Satmar rules was the last place she wanted to be.
How One Sex Abuse Case Tore Apart the Williamsburg Hasidim|Allison Yarrow|August 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST
These councils have been seeking amendments in the Hindu Marriage Act to support their atavistic views.
India’s Fatal Rape Was Typical in a Country That Degrades Women|Anuradha Roy|January 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
These atavistic triggers, however, aren't very satisfying explanations taken alone.
The Afghanistan-Kyrgyzstan Connection|Thomas Goltz|June 19, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The first volume is devoted to an investigation of the atavistic origin of crime among plants, animals, savages, and children.
Criminal Man|Gina Lombroso-Ferrero

There is only one protection against these relapses, against these atavistic tendencies, and that is education in natural science.
Superstition in Medicine|Hugo Magnus
Before this great unknown, they kneel and yield, an atavistic reaction to atavistic fears.
After the Rain|Sam Vaknin
The belated efforts to redress these wrongs meet with hostility and the atavistic fears of the dispossessor.
After the Rain|Sam Vaknin
The atavistic nature of his act in throwing the dog into the oil tank is quite evident.
Studies in Forensic Psychiatry|Bernard Glueck

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, adverb

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

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.

atavistic

adjective

Words related to atavistic

Words nearby atavistic

Origin of atavistic

OTHER WORDS FROM atavistic

Examples from the Web for atavistic

British Dictionary definitions for atavistic

adjective

Derived forms of atavistic

Science definitions for atavistic