Troglodytic
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Of or pertaining to troglodytes, or dwellers in caves.
"Foremost of all, of course, were the sight of the fiery caves and the certainty that some troglodytic race inhabited them."
- 2 Like or befitting a troglodyte; brutish, backwards, etc.
"‘There is something more, if I could find a name for it. God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say? or can it be the old story of Dr. Fell? or is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent? The last, I think; for O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend.’"
Example
More examples"Foremost of all, of course, were the sight of the fiery caves and the certainty that some troglodytic race inhabited them."
Etymology
From Latin troglodyticus, Ancient Greek τρωγλοδυτικός (trōglodutikós, “of cave-/hole-dwellers”) from τρωγλοδύτης (trōglodútēs, “cave-/hole-dweller”) from τρώγλη (trṓglē, “hole”) + δύω (dúō, “enter, go into”), equivalent to troglodyte + -ic.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.