What does "paleolithic" mean?

Of or referring to the Old Stone Age (the Paleolithic period or Paleolithic age).

What is a synonym for "paleolithic"?

Common synonyms include: antiquarian, culture, old stone age, palaeolithic, paleolithic age.

Pronounced //ˈpeɪlioʊˌlɪθɪk//.

//ˈpeɪlioʊˌlɪθɪk// adj, name

adj, name ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Adjective

1
Of or referring to the Old Stone Age (the Paleolithic period or Paleolithic age). not-comparable
"We find material evidences of magical practices in the European caves of the Palæolithic age[.]"
2
Alternative letter-case form of Paleolithic. alt-of
3
Antiquated, antediluvian. excessive, not-comparable
"Stacked up against ChatGPT’s ability to instantly transform any image into a Studio Ghibli cartoon, Instagram’s photo filters are practically Paleolithic."

Adjective

1
of or relating to the second period of the Stone Age (following the eolithic) wordnet

Proper Noun

1
A period that lasted from two and a half million years ago to 10,000 BCE; the Old Stone Age.
"Holonym: Stone Age"

"During the time period known as Paleolithic, man had to struggle for his survival."

From paleo- + -lithic.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.