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barbaric
[ bahr-bar-ik ]
adjective
- without civilizing influences; uncivilized; primitive:
barbaric invaders.
- of, like, or befitting barbarians:
a barbaric empire; barbaric practices.
- crudely rich or splendid:
barbaric decorations.
barbaric
/ bɑːˈbærɪk /
adjective
- of or characteristic of barbarians
- primitive or unsophisticated; unrestrained
- brutal
Derived Forms
- barˈbarically, adverb
Other Words From
- bar·bari·cal·ly adverb
- nonbar·baric adjective
- prebar·baric adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of barbaric1
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
Johnson on Thursday said British evacuation efforts would continue despite the “barbaric” attacks.
It still carries all those symbolic meanings, though its currency now works globally, cleaving the world into civilized cooling and barbaric heat.
Since then, he’s grown into a capable leader for the Krogan, and is looking to correct his race’s mistakes by adopting progressive policies and leaving the more barbaric, warlike qualities of the race in the past.
“It was body against body, just crushing, like a barbaric scene,” Fanone recalled in a Post interview last month.
“It was body against body, just crushing, like a barbaric scene,” Fanone recalled.
This is especially barbaric when one considers the actual circumstances of these women.
According to Bale, Moses was “one of the most barbaric individuals that I ever read about in my life.”
It was a violent and barbaric sport and I wanted nothing to do with it.
Rome wants and needs to be a capital of dialogue and peace, not a barbaric battleground.
The image of children being disposed of in such a barbaric and depraved manner outraged people across the world.
Something remote and ancient stirred in her, something that was not of herself To-day, something half primitive, half barbaric.
It was difficult to describe—a little sterner, a little wilder, a faint emphasis of the barbaric peering through it.
There was one device of oath-taking, half pagan and half barbaric, which but very slowly relaxed its hold on Christian Europe.
But there was in general nothing Oriental about him, no assumption of barbaric pompousness, no extravagance of bearing.
Allow me to remark, that seems a far more barbaric trait of manners than the most barbarous of ours.
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Related Words
About This Word
What does barbaric mean?
Barbaric means crude, uncivilized, or primitive. It’s often used to describe things that are cruel or brutal in a way that’s considered entirely uncivilized.
Barbaric is also used to describe things that involve people considered barbarians—people who are extremely crude and uncivilized.
The term barbarian was used by the ancient Greeks and Romans to refer to any foreigner. In ancient and medieval times, it was variously used to refer to non-Greeks, non-Romans, and non-Christians. The term eventually became associated with a stereotypical image of barbarians as primitive and brutish.
Like the word savage, the word barbarian can be very offensive due to its use to dehumanize the people that it’s applied to, especially in a way that calls attention to their otherness or the supposed primitiveness of their culture or customs. Barbaric can also imply these same things, especially when it’s applied to the practices of a culture other than one’s own.
The related word barbarous also means uncivilized, crude, or cruel.
Example: We need to put an end to this barbaric violence.
Where does barbaric come from?
The first records of the word barbaric come from the 1480s. It derives from the Latin barbaricus, meaning “foreign,” and ultimately comes from the Greek bárbaros, meaning “non-Greek,” or, more generally, “foreign.”
The Greek bárbaros is related to the Sanskrit barbara, which means “stammering” and was also used to refer to non-Aryans. The ultimate basis of these terms is thought to be an imitation of someone speaking a language that is completely incomprehensible, as if they were just saying the word bar over and over. This origin is indicative of how offensive the words barbarian and barbaric can be when used in certain ways. Portraying an unfamiliar language as primitive gibberish simply because it’s unfamiliar is offensive in much the same way that calling a person barbaric can be when it’s meant to dehumanize them due to their differences.
Did you know ... ?
What are some other forms related to barbaric?
- barbarically (adverb)
What are some synonyms for barbaric?
What are some words that share a root or word element with barbaric?
What are some words that often get used in discussing barbaric?
How is barbaric used in real life?
Barbaric is always used negatively. It can be offensive when used to dehumanize a group and imply that their culture is primitive.
In her time, Ida. B. Wells Wells (1862-1931) was the most famous Black woman in America. In the 1890s, her work exposing the barbaric practice of lynching gained national renown. https://t.co/oTNUr6EMIt
VIA @womenshistory #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/nqTIrjzOfF— marinparks (@marinparks) February 12, 2021
Only a barbaric system would allow millions of people to lose their health insurance during a deadly pandemic.
We need Medicare For All.
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) February 14, 2021
Thread on the Lincoln quote I wrote about earlier. McIntosh's murder was utterly barbaric. He was burned alive. According to one account, when one of his killers said he was dead, McIntosh suddenly yelled from the flames, begging someone to shoot him. https://t.co/63cGCphUeI
— Brian Lyman (@lyman_brian) August 27, 2020
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