prehistoric
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to the time or a period prior to recorded history.
The dinosaur is a prehistoric beast.
-
Slang. outdated; passé.
My mom has these prehistoric ideas about proper dress.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prehistoric
Explanation
If while hiking, you see strange painting on a cliff, it may be rock art from prehistoric times, meaning something from the time before history was recorded. When you break down the word prehistoric, it’s easy to figure out what it means. The prefix pre-, means “before” and historic relates to something from a past culture. Put the two together, and you get prehistoric, a word that describes something that comes from a time before history was recorded. For example, Stonehenge is a prehistoric site, or the woolly mammoth is a prehistoric beast.
Vocabulary lists containing prehistoric
World Without Fish
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Earth Science - Middle School
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Earth Science: Geology
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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.
Back in the prehistoric days of 2023, AI struggled with elementary math.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Bite marks preserved in fossil bones can provide rare evidence of how prehistoric animals behaved and interacted within ancient ecosystems.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
With this tool, early humans could create and maintain stone implements that were more carefully shaped and complex than those produced by some other prehistoric populations living during the same period.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
It revealed "monuments ranging from prehistoric long barrows and forts to Roman buildings and even First World War practice trenches," they said.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
It looked to me more like some kind of great prehistoric animal.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
