1
as in main
coming before all others in importance
the primal theme of the essay is toleration of religious diversity
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ancient
relating to or occurring near the beginning of a process, series, or time period
there was a period of primal idealism after the founding of the republic and before the rise of partisan politics
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of primal
Reverting to a primal version of itself, the Cure retraces the steps leading up to our disconcerting present, wondering what went wrong.
—
Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2024
The impulse to hold on to a memory is almost primal—think of ancestors drawing on cave walls or telling stories around a fire.
—Erin Sagen, The Atlantic, 2 Dec. 2024
Raised to hunt big game by his abusive Russian gangster dad Nikolai (Russell Crowe), Sergei was attacked by a lion as a teenager and the witchy potion that saved his life also gave him primal animal powers.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 14 Dec. 2024
The film may have been aiming for the primal mother-child connection that made Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun so moving.
—Tom Gliatto, People.com, 11 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for primal 
Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2024
The impulse to hold on to a memory is almost primal—think of ancestors drawing on cave walls or telling stories around a fire.
—Erin Sagen, The Atlantic, 2 Dec. 2024
Raised to hunt big game by his abusive Russian gangster dad Nikolai (Russell Crowe), Sergei was attacked by a lion as a teenager and the witchy potion that saved his life also gave him primal animal powers.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 14 Dec. 2024
The film may have been aiming for the primal mother-child connection that made Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun so moving.
—Tom Gliatto, People.com, 11 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for primal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for primal
Adjective
-
Drivers should try to travel during the day and avoid traveling alone, inform others of your schedule, and stick to main roads and avoid shortcuts.—
Post-Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Jan. 2025
-
The concert at the country’s main public square settled a pending debt with his Mexican fans, after postponing a presentation originally scheduled for September due to a domestic accident that resulted in five fractured ribs and forced him to suspend a series of shows in Mexico and Colombia.—
Natalia Cano,
Billboard,
19 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Designed with geometric forms that evoke the pyramids in the backdrop, the museum invites visitors to journey through ancient Egypt’s 3,000-year history, starting with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt around 3100 B.C. and ending with the Roman conquest in 30 B.C.—
Kate McMahon,
Travel + Leisure,
25 Jan. 2025
-
Historians have argued that similar helmets were worn by ancient warriors of many Greek city-states.—
Sonja Anderson,
Smithsonian Magazine,
22 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Houde said these mammoth animals are a primitive group of proboscideans ('elephantoids') from which modern elephants evolved.—
Joseph J. Kolb,
Fox News,
18 July 2017
-
Many are primitive and remote, and don’t have restrooms or water.—
OregonLive.com,
OregonLive.com,
12 July 2017
Adjective
-
Testers consider performance across four primary categories: efficacy, safety (including ease of use), research and the science behind specific claims, as well as product value.—
Jenny Berg,
Allure,
24 Jan. 2025
-
This surge in prices has been identified as a primary factor in the sales decline, along with escalating mortgage rates.—
Quartz Intelligence Newsroom,
Quartz,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Does Dellinger’s death suggest that Utah Territory, and by extension America itself, will always be driven by primeval conflict?—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
10 Jan. 2025
-
The ridge itself is a timeline across the landscape, linking today’s elaborate gardens to the east with sunset views over the primeval topography of conserved lands to the west.—
airmail.news,
airmail.news,
16 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
In our own solar system, comets are among the most primordial material—leftovers from the protoplanetary disk.—
Elise Cutts,
WIRED,
22 Dec. 2024
-
There is a primordial quality to the woods that oscillates between cacophonous forest chatter and eerie silence in the space of a ridge or two.—
Laura Lancaster,
Outdoor Life,
2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
In 2000, Smithfield Foods, the state’s predominant producer of hogs, agreed to pay $1 per hog produced in the state — for a total of up to $2 million — into a fund, with part of that money used to research more environmentally friendly ways of handling hog waste.—
Gavin Off,
Charlotte Observer,
26 Jan. 2025
-
Still, the predominant thought was his interview was a push by the Bears to fulfill the NFL’s Rooney Rule as the team positions itself to make a head coaching hire.—
Dan Wiederer,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
But evidence of when prehistoric people started eating meat has been difficult to find.—
Hatty Willmoth,
Newsweek,
20 Jan. 2025
-
These prehistoric people most closely followed a Mediterranean-like diet.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
13 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near primal
Cite this Entry
“Primal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/primal. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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