Synonyms for Primitive
ˈprɪm ɪ tɪvprim·i·tive

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. primitive

   Aboriginal (Latin ab, from, origo, origin) signifies pertaining to the aborigines or earliest known inhabitants of a country in the widest sense, including not merely human beings but inferior animals and plants as well. Autochthonic (Greek autos, self, and chthōn, earth) signifies sprung from the earth, especially from the soil of one's native land. Primeval (Latin primum, first, and ævum, age), signifies strictly belonging to the first ages, earliest in time, but often only the earliest of which man knows or conceives, immemorial. Aboriginal, autochthonic, and primeval combine the meanings of ancient and original; aboriginal inhabitants, autochthonic races, primeval forests. Prime and primary may signify either first in time, or more frequently first in importance; primary has also the sense of elementary or preparatory; we speak of a prime minister, a primary school. Primal is chiefly poetic, in the sense of prime; as, the primal curse. Primordial is first in an order of succession or development; as, a primordial leaf. Primitive frequently signifies having the original characteristics of that which it represents, as well as standing first in time; as, the primitive church. Primitive also very frequently signifies having the original or early characteristics without remoteness in time. Primeval simplicity is the simplicity of the earliest ages; primitive simplicity may be found in retired villages now. Pristine is an elegant word, used almost exclusively in a good sense of that which is original and perhaps ancient; as, pristine purity, innocence, vigor. That which is both an original and natural product of a soil or country is said to be indigenous; that which is actually produced there is said to be native, though it may be of foreign extraction; humming-birds are indigenous to America; canaries may be native, but are not indigenous. Immemorial refers solely to time, independently of quality, denoting, in legal phrase, "that whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary;" as, an immemorial custom; an immemorial abuse. Compare OLD.

   Compare synonyms for NEW.

   Synonyms:
   aboriginal, ancient, autochthonic, immemorial, indigenous, native, old, original, patriarchal, primal, primary, prime, primeval, primordial, pristine, uncreated

   Antonyms:
   adventitious, exotic, foreign, fresh, late, modern, new, novel, recent

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. primitive

   Synonyms:
   old-fashioned, primeval, quaint, simple, unsophisticated, archaic, pristine

   Antonyms:
   modern, new-fangled, sophisticated, modish

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:4.5 / 2 votes

1. primitive, primitive personnoun

   a person who belongs to an early stage of civilization

   Synonyms:
   primitive, primitive person

   Antonyms:
   civilised, trained, late, later(a), civilized

2. primitivenoun

   a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived

   Synonyms:
   primitive person

   Antonyms:
   late, later(a), civilised, trained, civilized

3. primitiveadjective

   a word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms

   "`pick' is the primitive from which `picket' is derived"

   Synonyms:
   primitive person

   Antonyms:
   later(a), civilised, late, trained, civilized

4. crude, primitive, rudeadjective

   belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness

   "the crude weapons and rude agricultural implements of early man"; "primitive movies of the 1890s"; "primitive living conditions in the Appalachian mountains"

   Synonyms:
   bad-mannered, ill-bred, rough, yokelish, primitive, unrefined, rude, crude(a), underbred, rude(a), vulgar, bounderish, archaic, gross, raw, lowbred, naive, stark(a), earthy, crude, unprocessed, blunt, ill-mannered, unmannered, raw(a), unmannerly, natural, uncivil

   Antonyms:
   late, trained, civilised, later(a), civilized

5. archaic, primitiveadjective

   little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type

   "archaic forms of life"; "primitive mammals"; "the okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe"

   Synonyms:
   archaic, naive, antiquated, primitive, crude, rude, antediluvian

   Antonyms:
   later(a), late, civilised, trained, civilized

6. primitiveadjective

   used of preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial societies

   "primitive societies"

   Synonyms:
   naive, crude, rude, archaic

   Antonyms:
   trained, late, civilized, later(a), civilised

7. primitive, naiveadjective

   of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style

   "primitive art such as that by Grandma Moses is often colorful and striking"

   Synonyms:
   rude, uninstructed, uninitiate, unenlightened, naive, primitive, archaic, uninitiated, crude, naif

   Antonyms:
   later(a), trained, late, civilised, civilized

Matched Categories

1. • Anthropology
   • Fine Arts
   • Formula

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. primitiveadjective

   Synonyms:
   primeval, primal, prime, primordial, original, aboriginal, pristine, primary, first

2. primitiveadjective

   Synonyms:
   radical, underived

3. primitiveadjective

   Synonyms:
   original, primeval, primal, primordial, aboriginal, prime, primary pristine, first

4. primitiveadjective

   Synonyms:
   radical, underived

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. primitiveadjective

   Synonyms:
   pristine, primordial, primeval, primal, antique, quaint, old-fashioned, original, radical, primary

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:4.0 / 1 vote

1. List of paraphrases for "primitive":

   primitives, primeval, primal, rudimentary, improvised, original, rustic, incivility, pristine, primordial

How to pronounce Primitive?

How to say Primitive in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use Primitive in a sentence?

1. Anandabai Joshee:

   Had there been no difficulties and no thorns in the way, then man would have been in his primitive state and no progress made in civilisation and mental culture.

2. Tamas Horvath:

   I think this behavior is so simple, so primitive that I think the machinery that drives the mice will be very similar to the machinery that drives humans as well, but, of course, we need to do further studies on those [mechanisms] in humans or other primates, to see whether this is the case there.

3. Francisco Toledo:

   My parents are migrants ; I'm more from the city than the country, but I always knew what the country was, and from there comes what I paint, though I do not come from a primitive world.

4. Australian Aboriginal Elder:

   You white people are so strange. We think it is very primitive for a child to have only two parents.

5. Isadora Duncan:

   It seems to me monstrous that anyone should believe that the jazz rhythm expresses America. Jazz rhythm expresses the primitive savage.