preindustrial

adjective

pre·​in·​dus·​tri·​al ˌprē-in-ˈdə-strē-əl 

variants or pre-industrial

1

: not having developed or adopted industry : not industrialized

preindustrial agrarian societies

preindustrial civilization

2

: occurring, existing, or originating before the development or adoption of industry

in preindustrial times

preindustrial levels of carbon dioxide

preindustrial artifacts

still made using preindustrial methods

also : resembling that of preindustrial times

a return to a preindustrial way of life

Examples of preindustrial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

With the average global temperature projected to increase to somewhere between 2.1 and 3.4 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by the year 2100, the group’s research predicts that there could be a 1.2- to threefold increase in the prevalence of sleep apnea events by the end of the century. —David Cox, Wired News, 3 Feb. 2026

This past fall, the United Nations announced that within the next decade, global temperatures will likely rise by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, a threshold that the Paris Agreement aimed to avoid. —Christian Elliott, The Atlantic, 31 Jan. 2026

Last year’s global average temperature was the third warmest since the preindustrial era, according to new data released Tuesday by scientists at Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. —Harry Stevens, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2026

Temperature increase is measured relative to preindustrial average. —Evan Bush, NBC news, 14 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for preindustrial

• nonindustrial
• postindustrial
• industrial