cave man
Americannoun
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a cave dweller, especially of the Stone Age.
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a man who behaves in a rough, primitive manner, especially toward women.
Etymology
Origin of cave man
First recorded in 1860–65
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.
Now, Arsenal is drawing unfavorable comparisons to the kings of anti-soccer and their cave man tactics—only this time, they’re at the opposite end of the table.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
One afternoon in Chicago, he meets an enigmatic young woman who reveals the earthshaking truth about the gigantic cave man he briefly glimpsed so long ago.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 24, 2023
A plucky cave man and the rest of his tribe face a grave threat when Lord Nooth plans to transform their land into a giant mine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2019
Stig is a nickname from his youth, a reference to the shaggy cave man in Clive King’s 1963 children’s novel “Stig of the Dump.”
From New York Times ● May 26, 2018
The use of tools of increasing refinement and complexity is the chief method by which man has progressed from the life of the cave man to the complicated industrial civilization of to-day.
From Human Traits and their Social Significance by Edman, Irwin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
