atavistic

[ at-uh-vis-tik ]

/ ˌæt əˈvɪs tɪk /

SEE MORE 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.

Nearby words

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

Related forms

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

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.