Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

There is no noble savagery for which to atavistically pine, any more than there is some ignoble savagery from which we escaped.”

From Slate • Aug. 4, 2015

Angela Merkel — and we’re in luck because the celebrities in question happen to be atavistically good with their hands.

From New York Times • May 1, 2015

My own ambivalence has a source different from the glory and shame of the union, which some Yes and No partisans atavistically invoke.

From The Guardian • Aug. 30, 2014

Even Mexico, a tenth of whose citizens live abroad and whose economy is more open than that of any other country its size, remains atavistically touchy about outsiders.

From Economist • Apr. 4, 2013

It is not likely to show itself atavistically in the children.

From Woman Her Sex and Love Life by Robinson, William J.