atavistic
[at-uh-vis-tik]
- of, relating to, or characterized by atavism; reverting to or suggesting the characteristics of a remote ancestor or primitive type.
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Origin of atavistic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for atavistic
Contemporary Examples
Sitting face to face with a Satmar man schooling her in atavistic Satmar rules was the last place she wanted to be.
These councils have been seeking amendments in the Hindu Marriage Act to support their atavistic views.
These atavistic triggers, however, aren't very satisfying explanations taken alone.
Historical Examples
This is of great importance in view of the atavistic origin of crime.
Criminal ManGina Lombroso-Ferrero
It is only an atavistic phenomenon, the return to a former state.
Criminal ManGina Lombroso-Ferrero
The criminal is an atavistic being, a relic of a vanished race.
Criminal ManGina Lombroso-Ferrero
Citizen Howard Temple-Tracy is a dangerous, atavistic, evil genius.
Gun for HireDallas McCord Reynolds
Perhaps it is atavistic—this desire to rest and swing in a hamaca.
Edge of the JungleWilliam Beebe
atavistic
- of or relating to reversion to a former or more primitive type
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for atavistic
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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