Barbarian
adj, noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A non-Greek or a non-Roman citizen. historical
- 2 a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement wordnet
- 3 An uncivilized or uncultured person, originally compared to the hellenistic Greco-Roman civilisation; usually associated with senseless violence and self-harm or other such shows of brute force and lack of mental faculty.
- 4 a member of an uncivilized people wordnet
- 5 A person destitute of culture; a Philistine. derogatory
"Shall a noble writer, and an inspired noble writer, be called a solecist, and barbarian, for giving a new turn to a word so agreeable to the analogy and genius of the Greek tongue?"
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 Someone from a developing country or backward culture. derogatory
- 7 A brutish warrior depicted in sword and sorcery and other fantasy works; typically clad in primitive furs or leather and usually favoring physical strength over intelligence while often possessing a bellicose temperament and disdain for laws.
- 8 A cruel, savage, inhumane, brutal, violently aggressive person, particularly one who is unintelligent or dim-witted; one without pity or empathy. derogatory
"Thou fell barbarian."
- 9 A foreigner, especially with barbaric qualities as in the above definitions. derogatory
- 1 Relating to people, countries, or customs perceived as uncivilized or inferior. not-comparable
- 1 without civilizing influences wordnet
Example
More examples"There is in all barbarian communities a profound sense of the disparity between man's and woman's work."
Etymology
From Middle English barbarian, borrowed from Medieval Latin barbarinus (“Berber, pagan, foreigner”), from Latin barbaria (“foreign country”), from barbarus (“foreigner, savage”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign, non-Greek, strange”), possibly onomatopoeic (mimicking foreign languages, akin to English blah blah). Cognate to Sanskrit बर्बर (barbara, “barbarian, non-Aryan, stammering, blockhead”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.