Barbaric
//bɑː(ɹ)ˈbæɹɪk// adj
adj ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 of or relating to a barbarian; uncivilized, uncultured or uncouth
"a barbaric attack on a doctor in a hospital"
Adjective
- 1 without civilizing influences wordnet
- 2 unrestrained and crudely rich wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Saint Patrick lived and preached this kind of love among a pagan, barbaric generation of Irishmen around the year 432 AD."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English barbarik, from Old French barbarique (“barbarous”), from Latin barbaricus, from Ancient Greek βαρβαρικός (barbarikós, “barbaric, savage, fierce”), from βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “barbarian”) + -ικός (-ikós, adjective suffix). See βάρβαρος (bárbaros) for more.
Related phrases
More for "barbaric"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.