caveman
Americannoun
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cavemen
plural
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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.
noun
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a man of the Palaeolithic age; cave dweller
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informal a man who is primitive or brutal in behaviour, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of caveman
First recorded in 1860–65
Explanation
In books or movies, a caveman is a character based on early prehistoric humans. Cavemen live in caves and hunt with simple weapons like rocks and clubs. You can also use caveman to refer to any crude and uncivilized guy — like your older brother who tries to impress dates with his belching skills. "The Flintstones" is a perfect example of a cartoon caveman stereotype—the characters live with dinosaurs and wear animal hides as clothing. In reality, the early humans who lived in caves and left behind Paleolithic cave paintings existed at a completely different time than dinosaurs. And scholars believe that most humans during this period lived in simple tents or other temporary structures.
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.
See Examples For:
A good deal of human creativity, after all, comes from physical self-preservation — a caveman need only cut himself once on sharpened bone to see its use in hunting.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2024
"I gotta go into my cave and become a caveman," he told CBS news.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2024
That original “Ghosts,” with three seasons streaming on Max, features different but still recognizable archetypes: a caveman instead of a Viking; a World War II officer instead of a Revolutionary War soldier.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
The whole point of technology, of course, is that it’s supposed to make our lives easier, and to deliver us from the pain and toil of our caveman state.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2023
I just kinda held my arms straight and did the caveman walk to the stockroom, bumping into everything, including the stockroom door, hoping I'd make it there before my shoulders popped out the sockets.
From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds
At which point, they had to come running toward the roo, bellowing and brandishing their golf clubs like cavemen on the fifth hole, just to get it to stop charging.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2023
"Readers can expect to meet characters ranging from cavemen to gnomes, wizards to ghosts, and read about time travel tourism, the haunting of Council offices, and a visitor from another planet," the publisher added.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2023
“It’s been like that since cavemen, the 99-cent price point was exciting then, and it’s exciting today,” Vultaggio said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2022
He set five peculiar creatures - something like futuristic cavemen - gyrating across the stage, dressed head-to-toe in dark gray unitards, designed by Rauschenberg, with reflectors shining on their heads and hands.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 30, 2018
The war was as remote to her as cavemen and dinosaurs.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
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