barbarian
a person in a savage, primitive state; uncivilized person.
a person without culture, refinement, or education; philistine.
(loosely) a foreigner.
(in ancient and medieval periods)
a non-Greek.
a person living outside, especially north of, the Roman Empire.
a person not living in a Christian country or within a Christian civilization.
(among Italians during the Renaissance) a person of non-Italian origin.
Origin of barbarian
1synonym study For barbarian
Other words for barbarian
Opposites for barbarian
Other words from barbarian
- bar·bar·i·an·ism, noun
- half-bar·bar·i·an, adjective
- non·bar·bar·i·an, adjective, noun
Words Nearby barbarian
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use barbarian in a sentence
Nine different Western Roman emperors had risen and fallen since 455 and most of them had been overthrown by barbarian commanders like Odoacer.
Rome Didn't Fall When You Think It Did. Here's Why That Fabricated History Still Matters Today | Edward J. Watts | October 6, 2021 | TimeIn four cases, the barbarian generals toppled one emperor and delayed appointing another.
Rome Didn't Fall When You Think It Did. Here's Why That Fabricated History Still Matters Today | Edward J. Watts | October 6, 2021 | TimeIn September of 476 AD, the barbarian commander Odoacer forced the teenaged Western Roman emperor Romulus Augustus to resign his office.
Rome Didn't Fall When You Think It Did. Here's Why That Fabricated History Still Matters Today | Edward J. Watts | October 6, 2021 | TimeIt casts one’s opponent as an outsider, perhaps a barbarian, who must be scorned and defied, even if that results, as it did for Leonidas, in self-destruction.
This Is the Gun-Loving Right’s Favorite Greek Taunt | James Romm | September 27, 2021 | The Daily BeastYet it won’t do to merely split a bunch of logs and leave them in a state of splintered entropy like some barbarian.
How to Find Zen by Splitting and Stacking Wood | Martin Fritz Huber | March 1, 2021 | Outside Online
I wrote my first book listening to the soundtrack to the movie Conan the barbarian on a loop.
Instead of thinking of a sharp distinction between "Roman" and "barbarian," we should think in terms of economic zones.
What can explain Morris's insistence in continuing to describe whole cultures and societies as "barbarian"?
Lastly, Levy objects to my occasional use, in the past, of the word "barbarian".
Morris has said that “the Arab world as it is today is barbarian.”
Of Herrings and Elephants: Benny Morris and "Palestinian Rejectionism" | Daniel Levy | April 16, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTChristendom looked astounded upon the spectacle of a barbarian invasion bursting forth from the cellars and garrets of Paris.
Madame Roland, Makers of History | John S. C. AbbottThe words, taken in a new acceptation, reveal the charming maladroitness of a northern barbarian kneeling before a Roman beauty.
Charles Baudelaire, His Life | Thophile GautierBut in each case the barbarian was not very far below the surface—any more than he is in an Englishman sometimes.
The Cradle of Mankind | W.A. WigramHe turned angrily on the "barbarian" schools, that would sweep away the past, and create Humanity anew on some arbitrary plan.
The Life of Mazzini | Bolton KingPhilip has been deemed a mere barbarian, whose victory was certain to be, and was, the death of Grecian liberty.
Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 3 of 8 | Various
British Dictionary definitions for barbarian
/ (bɑːˈbɛərɪən) /
a member of a primitive or uncivilized people
a coarse, insensitive, or uncultured person
a vicious person
of an uncivilized culture
insensitive, uncultured, or brutal
Origin of barbarian
1Derived forms of barbarian
- barbarianism, noun
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
Browse