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relating to human society at a very early stage of development, with people living in a simple way without machines or a writing system: Primitive races colonized these islands 2,000 years ago. primitive man. The spiny anteater is a mammal, although a very primitive one.
adjective. prim· i· tive ˈpri-mə-tiv. Synonyms of primitive. 1. a. : not derived : original, primary. b. : assumed as a basis. especially : axiomatic. primitive concepts. 2. a. : of or relating to the earliest age or period : primeval. the primitive church. b. : closely approximating an early ancestral type : little evolved. primitive mammals. c.
Primitive definition: being the first or earliest of the kind or in existence, especially in an early age of the world. See examples of PRIMITIVE used in a sentence.
Primitive means belonging to a society in which people live in a very simple way, usually without industries or a writing system. ...studies of primitive societies. ...primitive tribes.
adjective. little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type. “ primitive mammals”. “the okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe”. synonyms: archaic. early. being or occurring at an early stage of development. adjective.
adj. 1. a. Of or relating to an early or original stage or state; primeval: life in the primitive ocean. b. Occurring in or characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution: fossils of primitive angiosperms from the Cretaceous Period. c. Having developed early in the evolutionary history of a group: Hair is a primitive trait of mammals.
very simple and old-fashioned, especially when something is also not convenient and comfortable synonym crude. The methods of communication used during the war were primitive by today's standards. The facilities on the campsite were very primitive. Transport remained very primitive.
PRIMITIVE meaning: 1 : of, belonging to, or seeming to come from an early time in the very ancient past; 2 : not having a written language, advanced technology, etc.
[usually before noun] (of a feeling or a desire) very strong and not based on reason, as if from the earliest period of human life a primitive instinct. primitively. adverb. primitiveness. noun [uncountable] See primitive in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Check pronunciation: primitive.
There are 39 meanings listed in OED's entry for the word primitive, nine of which are labelled obsolete, and one of which is considered derogatory. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
