as in ancient
relating to or occurring near the beginning of a process, series, or time period
primeval forests slowly disappearing as the climate changed
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of primeval
There was another side to connect with, a rough, primeval, earthly energy.
—
Literary Hub,
3 Dec. 2025
The primeval lizards also harbor over 50 strains of bacteria in their mouths and their venomous saliva contains an anticoagulant and toxins that induce blood loss, shock, and paralysis in its victim.
—
Norma Meyer,
Oc Register,
12 Nov. 2025
Sez Me … Since the first football player — all hairy and slumped over and naked — climbed out of the primeval swamp and tried to block an animal that hasn’t been seen since that giant asteroid smashed into Earth, it‘s been obvious.
—
Nick Canepa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Nov. 2025
Filled with unearthly landscapes, primeval forests, and twilight beaches, Anemone’s ornate visual design seems to underscore its characters’ emotional suffocation.
—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
28 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for primeval
Literary Hub,
3 Dec. 2025
The primeval lizards also harbor over 50 strains of bacteria in their mouths and their venomous saliva contains an anticoagulant and toxins that induce blood loss, shock, and paralysis in its victim.
—
Norma Meyer,
Oc Register,
12 Nov. 2025
Sez Me … Since the first football player — all hairy and slumped over and naked — climbed out of the primeval swamp and tried to block an animal that hasn’t been seen since that giant asteroid smashed into Earth, it‘s been obvious.
—
Nick Canepa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Nov. 2025
Filled with unearthly landscapes, primeval forests, and twilight beaches, Anemone’s ornate visual design seems to underscore its characters’ emotional suffocation.
—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
28 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for primeval
Recent Examples of Synonyms for primeval
Adjective
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Learn about Sarasota’s ancient past at Phillippi Estate Park or look for the resident deer at Rothenbach Park.
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The pallium, a woolen collar embroidered with six crosses, is an ancient symbol of authority and obligation.
Adjective
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SpudCell is still primitive, most closely resembling a bacterium.
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While primitive in appearance, the arms kept the device relatively secure on my neck.
Adjective
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There's a full rainbow of primal prints to explore, like this flowing calf-print caftan from Moroccan designer Fadila El Gadi.
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Tradition’s stubborn, and there’s still something primal about the boom and the body-rattling force of the real thing.
Adjective
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The museum uses Akrotiri as a point of reference for the life and culture of prehistoric Thira.
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The fraught subject of the proper disposition of those human remains has taken on a new sensitivity — both for the prehistoric people’s Native American successors in Florida, and for the archaeologists and developers encountering them.
Adjective
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Earth-impacting shrapnel from those primordial upheavals may have helped seed our planet with the precursors for life, delivering water and organic compounds from the dark, icy depths of the outer solar system.
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At a time when the Earth was bare, when there were no vertebrates, no trees, no leaves, no flowering plants, and no plants with seeds, millipedes were feeding on decaying mosses, decomposed slime, and primordial gunk.
Adjective
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All that to say, a glass of rye whiskey, one of the oldest drinks in America and the original base of many of our earliest cocktails like Manhattans and Old Fashioneds, is an easy way to honor the scrappy American spirit.
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Heck, the city almost lost out on Messi altogether, with Argentina barely escaping Cape Verde in an early knockout match Friday night.
Cite this Entry
“Primeval.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/primeval. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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