primitive

[ prim-i-tiv ]

/ ˈprɪm ɪ tɪv /

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See synonyms for: primitive / primitives / primitively / primitiveness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

being the first or earliest of the kind or in existence, especially in an early age of the world: primitive forms of life.

early in the history of the world or of humankind.

characteristic of early ages or of an early state of human development: primitive toolmaking.

Anthropology. (no longer in technical use) of or relating to a preliterate or tribal people having cultural or physical similarities with their early ancestors.

unaffected or little affected by civilizing influences; uncivilized: primitive passions.

being in its earliest period; early: the primitive phase of the history of a town.

old-fashioned: primitive ideas and habits.

simple; unsophisticated: a primitive farm implement.

crude; unrefined: primitive living conditions.

Linguistics.

of or relating to a form from which a word or other linguistic form is derived; not derivative; original or radical.
of or relating to a protolanguage.
of or relating to a linguistic prime.

primary, as distinguished from secondary.

Biology.

rudimentary; primordial.
noting species, varieties, etc., only slightly evolved from early antecedent types.
of early formation and temporary, as a part that subsequently disappears.

noun

someone or something primitive.

Fine Arts.

an artist of a preliterate culture.
a naive or unschooled artist.
an artist belonging to the early stage in the development of a style.
a work of art by a primitive artist.

Mathematics.

a geometric or algebraic form or expression from which another is derived.
a function of which the derivative is a given function.

Linguistics. the form from which a given word or other linguistic form has been derived, by either morphological or historical processes, as take in undertake.

OTHER WORDS FOR primitive

1, 2 prehistoric, primal, primary, primordial, original, antediluvian, pristine.

See synonyms for primitive on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of primitive

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (noun and adjective) (from Middle French primitif), from Latin prīmitīvus “first of its kind.” See prime, -itive

synonym study for primitive

1, 2. See prime.

OTHER WORDS FROM primitive

prim·i·tive·ly, adverbprim·i·tive·ness, prim·i·tiv·i·ty, nounnon·prim·i·tive, adjective, nounnon·prim·i·tive·ly, adverb

non·prim·i·tive·ness, nounpre·prim·i·tive, adjectivepseu·do·prim·i·tive, adjectivesem·i·prim·i·tive, adjectiveun·prim·i·tive, adjectiveun·prim·i·tive·ly, adverbun·prim·i·tive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use primitive in a sentence

The group’s chemical weapons program was never more than primitive and probably wasted its resources.
What Assad’s chemical weapons really accomplished|Graeme Wood|February 19, 2021|Washington Post
We eventually worked out that the micrometeorites are largely coming from primitive asteroids.
What Dust From Space Tells Us About Ourselves|Natalie Wolchover|February 4, 2021|Quanta Magazine
There are primitive versions of this in the Neuralink idea, with tiny wires going into your brain.
Elon Musk busts Clubhouse limit, fans stream to YouTube, he switches to interviewing Robinhood CEO|Mike Butcher|February 1, 2021|TechCrunch
Early players in the space utilized primitive VR abilities to enable users to virtually try on makeup—an exciting prospect in theory but frequently disappointing and unrealistic in practice.
A.I. in the beauty industry: How the pandemic finally made consumers care about it|Rachel King|January 11, 2021|Fortune

It makes our lungs—and the lungs of all mammals—look primitive.
Why Birds Can Fly Over Mount Everest - Issue 94: Evolving|Walter Murch|December 30, 2020|Nautilus
By some direct and primitively human way her benighted mind had reached its determination.
The Cruise of the Shining Light|Norman Duncan
Figure-drawing in early Christian art was for nearly a thousand years primitively barbarous, with occasional exceptions.
Needlework As Art|Marian Alford
But in June something primitively English was thoroughly upset; old Jolyon's sense of justice had risen, as it were, from bed.
The Forsyte Saga, Volume III.|John Galsworthy
The Oviduct is in the Elasmobranchii, as in other vertebrates, primitively developed in both sexes.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1|Francis Maitland Balfour
It is hardly possible to help believing that the blastopore primitively represented a mouth.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1|Francis Maitland Balfour

British Dictionary definitions for primitive

primitive

/ (ˈprɪmɪtɪv) /

adjective

of or belonging to the first or beginning; original

characteristic of an early state, esp in being crude or uncivilizeda primitive dwelling

anthropol denoting or relating to a preliterate and nonindustrial social system

biology

of, relating to, or resembling an early stage in the evolutionary development of a particular group of organismsprimitive amphibians
another word for primordial (def. 3)

showing the characteristics of primitive painters; untrained, childlike, or naive

geology pertaining to magmas that have experienced only small degrees of fractional crystallization or crystal contamination

obsolete of, relating to, or denoting rocks formed in or before the Palaeozoic era

obsolete denoting a word from which another word is derived, as for example hope, from which hopeless is derived

Protestant theol of, relating to, or associated with a minority group that breaks away from a sect, denomination, or Church in order to return to what is regarded as the original simplicity of the Gospels

noun

a primitive person or thing

an artist whose work does not conform to traditional, academic, or avant-garde standards of Western painting, such as a painter from an African or Oceanic civilization
a painter of the pre-Renaissance era in European painting
a painter of any era whose work appears childlike or untrainedAlso called (for senses 11a, 11c): naive

a work by such an artist

a word or concept from which another word or concept is derived

maths a curve, function, or other form from which another is derived

Derived forms of primitive

primitively, adverbprimitiveness, noun

Word Origin for primitive

C14: from Latin prīmitīvus earliest of its kind, primitive, from prīmus first

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

Scientific definitions for primitive

primitive

[ prĭm′ĭ-tĭv ]

Relating to an early or original stage.

Having evolved very little from an early type. Lampreys and sturgeon are primitive fishes.

primitive

OTHER WORDS FOR primitive

Origin of primitive

synonym study for primitive

OTHER WORDS FROM primitive

Words related to primitive

How to use primitive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for primitive

Derived forms of primitive

Word Origin for primitive

Scientific definitions for primitive