Neanderthal 1 of 2

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as in barbarian
a man with crude manners and habits and outmoded attitudes made the mistake of dining with some Neanderthal who repeatedly mistook his shirtsleeve for a napkin

Synonyms & Similar Words

Neanderthal

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adjective

variants or Neandertal

Example 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 Neanderthal
Noun
The genomes carried evidence of Neanderthal ancestry. Katie Hunt, CNN, 13 Dec. 2024 But, while this group of people also had Neanderthal ancestry, their population must have died out, because their DNA doesn’t appear to contribute to modern-day genomes. Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Dec. 2024 Poetry for Neanderthals for $25: Every card has a word, and your seemingly simple task is to get your team to correctly guess it within the time limit by speaking in single syllables only. Simon Hill, WIRED, 19 Dec. 2024 In a separate study, researchers tracked signs of Neanderthal in our genetic code over 50,000 years. Adithi Ramakrishnan, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for Neanderthal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Neanderthal
Noun
  • The hulk of metal moved silently through space, high above the blue Earth.
    Keith Cooper, Space.com, 13 Feb. 2025
  • Having boy hulk Matthew Knies at the net front, to retrieve pucks and be a pain for the defence, is one positive step that’s been working.
    James Mirtle, The Athletic, 23 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Whatever the reason, barbarians likely used the spoons either to snort powdered substances, or to measure out a quantity to place into drinks like beer, or into pipes to be smoked.
    Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 30 Jan. 2025
  • It was called the Save Women’s Sports Act, conjuring an image of barbarians at the gate.
    Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • At the time, Pearce called out a rude fan while performing at WE Fest in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.
    Stephanie Giang-Paunon, Fox News, 7 Mar. 2025
  • Anti-Tesla sentiment is at an all-time high, whether expressed through rude bumper stickers and peaceful protest or vandalism and arson, in part because Musk has continually stoked tension with his far-right politics.
    Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 7 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Stay for dinner with weekly specials including lobster ravioli and squid ink fettuccine with lump crab meat.
    Samantha Nelson, Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2025
  • The extensive menu is accented by all kinds of coastal favorites—from the popular she-crab soup and Charleston-style lump crab cakes to jambalaya and lobster bisque.
    Lydia Mansel, Southern Living, 25 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • At Tree by Naked Yoyogi Park, a multi-sensory dining experience in Tokyo designed by Japanese visual artist Ryotaro Muramatsu, guests put on VR headsets for part of the meal, transporting themselves into a comical world where animals eat and dress like humans.
    Kristin Tablang, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025
  • This style of outerwear, worn over a man’s pants, consists of animal hides that still have the creature’s hair or fur attached, all the better to repel snow and rain.
    Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 1 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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
Noun
  • Monthly winners and losers: This brings us to our February winners and losers.
    Jeff Marks, CNBC, 28 Feb. 2025
  • Health care reform always creates winners and losers.
    Caitlin Owens, Axios, 28 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Even cavemen, in ancient, simpler times, could not merely sit around in cave admiring/praising one another, but had to hunt, fight, compete with members of own group for status.
    George Saunders, The Atlantic, 14 Feb. 2025
  • In their first outing, the Croods managed to carve out a niche for themselves that distinguished these cavemen from everybody’s favorite modern Stone Age family.
    James Grebey, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Neanderthal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Neanderthal. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

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