as in barbarian
not civilized
unfairly branded as uncivilized by European explorers, they had created a culture that was actually quite advanced
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Recent Examples of uncivilized
Forcing a woman to choose between jail and carrying her rapist's baby is uncivilized and medieval.
—
CNN, 27 June 2022
There is no doubt uncivilized — and sometimes violent — acts have taken place in school bathrooms.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 26 June 2022
Roxane Gay: For all our cultural obsession with civility, there is nothing more uncivilized than the political establishment’s acceptance of the constancy of mass shootings.
—New York Times, 26 May 2022
Sure, the song (apparently written about writer Quentin Crisp) is just about the alienating sense of being an outsider, of having people judge you for your accent or aspiring to civility in an uncivilized land.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Apr. 2022
See All Example Sentences for uncivilized
CNN, 27 June 2022
There is no doubt uncivilized — and sometimes violent — acts have taken place in school bathrooms.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 26 June 2022
Roxane Gay: For all our cultural obsession with civility, there is nothing more uncivilized than the political establishment’s acceptance of the constancy of mass shootings.
—New York Times, 26 May 2022
Sure, the song (apparently written about writer Quentin Crisp) is just about the alienating sense of being an outsider, of having people judge you for your accent or aspiring to civility in an uncivilized land.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Apr. 2022
See All Example Sentences for uncivilized
Recent Examples of Synonyms for uncivilized
Adjective
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For the design of the barbarian figure, Sweet reached out to Mark Taylor, an artist and designer at Mattel.—
Sanat Pai RaikarAll,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
4 May 2026
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When the Western Roman Empire fell in the fifth century C.E., Europe was plunged into chaos as barbarian Germanic forces advanced south—or so the story goes.—
Emma Gometz,
Scientific American,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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It’s widely considered rude and annoying when people cluster by the train doors if there are more people on the platform attempting to get on.—
Claudia Fisher,
Travel + Leisure,
15 June 2026
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Many of these terms were meant as insults and were – and remain today – tremendously rude, but others reflect the bewilderment of trying to categorize people who don’t fit into standard categories easily.—
Ky Merkley,
The Conversation,
15 June 2026
Adjective
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Harron slyly transforms it into a savage social satire, using the narrator’s unreliable point of view to borderline absurdist effect.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 June 2026
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What begins as a desperate family bonding trip rapidly devolves into savage violence and brutal psychological warfare.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
3 June 2026
Adjective
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Though the Guardians have a share of first place with the White Sox and a three-game cushion over the Athletics in wild-card positioning, the club is about to weather some significant time without José Ramírez or Chase DeLauter.—
Stephen J. Nesbitt,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
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Rosenthal and other salary cap critics point out that wild spending is no guarantee of success, and many clubs operating on a shoestring, like the Milwaukee Brewers, have found ways to win consistently.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
15 June 2026
Adjective
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But the primitive areas of our brains still have connections from when our ancestors relied on smell to survive.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Charlotte Observer,
16 June 2026
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In another story, set in the far future, a scientist who had disappeared decades earlier reappears in an emergency shuttle, claiming to have been saved by a technologically primitive alien race.—
Alexandra Oliva,
The Atlantic,
12 June 2026
Adjective
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Seeking to eliminate Berber forces in the barren mountains of northern Morocco, seven soldiers obediently follow their fanatical sergeant (Víctor Clavijo) into barbarous depths of depravity.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
16 May 2026
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Lies told by people who are simply too afraid to look at such an ugly, barbarous reality.—
Clare Malone,
New Yorker,
19 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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But because of his radical and violent fight for freedom, Dessalines’ enemies often described him as ferocious and barbaric, both during his lifetime and in the centuries after his death.—
Julia Gaffield,
The Conversation,
15 June 2026
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The vitality of her language, its frolicsome dance with personification, communicates its own resistance in the face of an indifferent world, exploited by imperialist greed and barbaric, militant might.—
Rachel Vorona Cote,
Vulture,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Uncivilized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uncivilized. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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