adj, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   simple past and past participle of uncivilize form-of, participle, past

Adjective

1. 1
   Not having developed a civilization.

   "The explorers wrote about the so-called uncivilized tribes."

2. 2
   Crude, barbarous, wild, uncultured.

   "utterly uncivilized"

3. 3
   Lacking good manners.

   "uncivilized behavior"

Adjective

1. 1
   without civilizing influences wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

heathenanimalanthropophagousatrociousbackbarbarian

Antonyms

All antonyms

civilizationcivilized

Example

More examples

"Those who use forks or chopsticks often think people who don't are uncivilized."

Etymology

From un- + civilized.

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