hunter-gatherer

noun

hunt·​er-gath·​er·​er ˈhən-tər-ˈga-t͟hər-ər 

: a member of a culture in which food is obtained by hunting, fishing, and foraging rather than by agriculture or animal husbandry

Examples of hunter-gatherer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Although the 5,550-year-old middle-aged hunter-gatherer exhibited no visible signs of disease, researchers found traces of a previously unknown species of treponemes—bacteria that cause yaws, bejel, syphilis, and pinta—after analyzing extracted DNA from his tibia. —Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 24 Jan. 2026

There’s also a nontrivial risk that ungoverned AI returns our kids or our kids’ kids to hunter-gatherer status. —Ryan Craig, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026

By analyzing the bones and pyre sediments, researchers believe that hunter-gatherers cremated the body of a woman about 9,500 years ago, according to their study published Thursday in the journal Science Advances. —Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 6 Jan. 2026

Here was a human elbow joint, burned and fractured, preserved in sediments full of debris from the daily lives of Stone Age hunter-gatherers. —Elizabeth Sawchuk, The Conversation, 1 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hunter-gatherer

• gatherer

Kids Definition

hunter-gatherer

noun

hunt·​er-gath·​er·​er

-ˈgat͟h-ər-ər, 

-ˈget͟h-

: a member of a culture in which food is gotten by hunting, fishing, and gathering rather than by agriculture