barbarian 1 of 2

barbarian

2 of 2

noun

as in primitive
an uncivilized person the invading Germanic tribes were viewed as barbarians by the citizens of ancient Rome

Synonyms & Similar Words

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of barbarian
Adjective
And Marine Le Pen, the French leader of the anti-immigration National Front, has likened the influx of Syrian refugees to the barbarian invasions that destroyed the Roman Empire. Max Abrahms, Foreign Affairs, 22 Mar. 2017 This means that from 1860 onwards, Argentina went from being a barbarian country to becoming the leading global power in 35 years, embracing the ideas of liberty. Vera Bergengruen/buenos Aires, TIME, 23 May 2024
Noun
Let the front office barbarians swap one player for another. Tim Britton, The Athletic, 30 July 2024 And while the comfortable citizens of that empire are clutching their iPhones and congratulating Steve Jobs on the iPad, the barbarians are raising their own mobile devices in defiance. IEEE Spectrum, 4 Feb. 2010 See all Example Sentences for barbarian 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbarian
Adjective
  • As savage Arctic cold was getting ready to surge south across North America, vivid imagery based on data from weather models showed us what was going to happen.
    Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 27 Dec. 2022
  • The 2023 grand marshal is former Arizona Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords, gravely wounded in a savage mass shooting in 2011 that also killed six people.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Dec. 2022
Noun
  • Burlington Antique Show Browse more than 200 dealers of antiques, vintage jewelry, primitives, garden and architectural elements, mid-century collectibles, memorabilia, Americana and retro/vintage furniture at this monthly outdoor antique market.
    Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 14 Aug. 2024
  • It can be used to achieve a lot of other cryptographic primitives.
    Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 1 Aug. 2024
Adjective
  • To chastise you for attending to his mistake and then act as though your laundry were now tainted is rude and hypocritical.
    Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2025
  • The Joella deluge begins when Lana calls her out at the beginning of the episode for being rude during Untucked about her song.
    Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 17 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • The fact that goalie masks still have this individuality to put creativity and color that doesn’t even necessarily match is wild to me.
    Jesse Granger, The Athletic, 21 Jan. 2025
  • Targets Birthright Citizenship Her first foster pair of bald eagle chicks arrived in 1976, having been removed from their wild parents’ nest in Wisconsin.
    GrrlScientist, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Another scene bound to induce winces and covered eyes involves a barbaric eyelash transplant procedure, cinematographer Marcel Zyskind’s camera bringing us way too close to the incisions and their aftermath.
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2025
  • Emilie Blichfeldt’s body horror film includes several difficult-to-watch scenes of crude cosmetic surgery, including its protagonist eating a tapeworm, sewing in eyelashes and enduring a barbaric rhinoplasty.
    Matt Donnelly, Variety, 24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Experts told PolitiFact such narratives painting Haiti as a barbarous country are not new and are racist attempts to dehumanize Haitians.
    Jeff Cercone, Austin American-Statesman, 14 Sep. 2024
  • Treating barbarous body horror as something embedded in us deeper than the mutual love of a partner, especially when it’s done without the theatrical or exploitation trappings, makes for one of the New French Extremity’s most troubling works.
    Rory Doherty, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2024
Adjective
  • Under the Omanis, Zanzibar grew rich selling spices, ivory, and slaves, mostly non-Muslims from the interior, whom the island’s élites derided as washenzi, or uncivilized.
    Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2022
  • Forcing a woman to choose between jail and carrying her rapist's baby is uncivilized and medieval.
    CNN, CNN, 27 June 2022

Thesaurus Entries Near barbarian

Cite this Entry

“Barbarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbarian. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.

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