Stone Age

1 of 2

noun

1

: the first known period of prehistoric human culture characterized by the use of stone tools compare mesolithic, neolithic, paleolithic

2

: a stage in a human institution or field of endeavor regarded as primitive, outmoded, or obsolete

the Stone Age of information handling before computers

Stone Age

2 of 2

adjective

1

: of, relating to, or resembling the culture of the Stone Age especially in the use of stone implements

modern Stone Age peoples

our Stone Age ancestors

2

: primitive, outmoded, or unsophisticated (as in ideas or technology) by currently accepted standards

marauding mercenaries with Stone Age political ideas

—Robert Moss

using a Stone Age camera

Synonyms

Adjective

• antiquated
• archaic
• dated
• démodé
• demoded
• fossilized
• kaput
• kaputt
• medieval
• mediaeval
• moribund
• mossy
• moth-eaten
• neolithic
• Noachian
• obsolete
• out-of-date
• outdated
• outmoded
• outworn
• passé
• prehistoric
• prehistorical
• rusty
• superannuated

Examples of Stone Age in a Sentence

Adjective

Stone Age attitudes about the raising of children.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The arrow shafts were also coated with birch bark pitch–considered a Stone Age superglue. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 5 Dec. 2024

Evidence of animal trapping Foxes and wild cats are difficult to kill using traditional hunting tools such as spears, so Pelton suspects Stone Age hunters caught the small carnivores with traps, although direct evidence of animal trapping hasn’t been found at sites of this age in North America. —Katie Hunt, CNN, 4 Dec. 2024

Investigations in the area also uncovered evidence of an early farming settlement that dates back to around 5000 B.C. during the Neolithic period or New Stone Age. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 30 Nov. 2024

This human-specific wiring to perpetuate the ways of prior generations gave rise to the explosion of symbolic practices in late Stone Age humans. —Michael Morris, TIME, 27 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1844, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1865, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

Stone Age

noun

: the oldest period in which human beings are known to have existed that is marked by the use of stone tools