rudimentary

adjective ru·di·men·ta·ry \ ˌrü-də-ˈmen-tə-rē , -ˈmen-trē \

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

1 : consisting in first principles : fundamental

had only a rudimentary formal education
—D. J. Boorstin

2 : of a primitive kind

the equipment of these past empire-builders was rudimentary
—A. J. Toynbee

3 : very imperfectly developed or represented only by a vestige

the rudimentary tail of a hyrax

—

rudimentarily

play \ˌrü-də-ˌmen-ˈter-ə-lē, -ˈmen-trə-lē\ adverb

—

rudimentariness

play \ˌrü-də-ˈmen-tə-rē-nəs, -ˈmen-trē-\ noun

See rudimentary defined for English-language learners

See rudimentary defined for kids

Examples of rudimentary in a Sentence

Because now, every schlemiel with a pair of mirrored sunglasses and a rudimentary grasp of the rules of poker thinks he can play cards with the pros. —A. J. Jacobs, New York Times Book Review, 8 May 2005
Despite the rudimentary nature of its instruments—an octant, a chronometer and a level—the Lewis and Clark Expedition was a triumph for science and natural history. —Daniel J. Boorstin, U.S. News & World Report, 11 July 1994
A few were hopeless imbeciles, unable to comprehend more than the rudimentary requirements of filling their bellies when food was placed before them … —Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Monster Men, 1929
It appears as if the posterior molar or wisdom-teeth were tending to become rudimentary in the more civilised races of man. —Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, 1871
This class requires a rudimentary knowledge of human anatomy.
When baseball was in its rudimentary stages, different teams played by different rules.
Some insects have only rudimentary wings.

Recent Examples of rudimentary from the Web

Unlike a rudimentary geography quiz in which participants just identify the 50 states, the bee’s questions mix in cultural and historical references.

— don stacom, Courant Community, "Showdown Looms At CCSU For Young Geography Prodigies," 5 Apr. 2018
Tedious, rudimentary and necessary, even for a player as naturally explosive as Matthews.

— shawn windsor, Detroit Free Press, "How Charles Matthews became Michigan basketball's best player in March," 2 Apr. 2018
That’s 200 homers over a 162-game season, which sounds like more than one a game, according to my admittedly rudimentary public-school mathematical training.

— norman chad, San Antonio Express-News, "Chad: Exit velocity all the rage in baseball circles these days," 2 Apr. 2018
Duke University researchers have observed rudimentary, but functional, stomachs, small intestines, and duodenums growing inside cancerous lungs — illustrating how varied and plastic these metastatic cells can be.

— meghana keshavan, STAT, "Scientists find mini gastrointestinal tract growing inside tumor," 29 Mar. 2018
Pokemon Go, the breakout AR game of 2016, only offered a rudimentary way for multiple users to inhabit the same digital space.

— sandra upson, WIRED, "This Startup Makes Augmented Reality Social—and Ubiquitous," 28 Mar. 2018
A half-dozen defense and intelligence installations in the Washington area received packages Monday containing rudimentary devices that had what appeared to be components of an explosive, a law enforcement official said.

— gordon lubold, WSJ, "Packages With Possible Explosive Sent to Washington Defense, Intelligence Sites," 26 Mar. 2018
Barbara believed that this fugue, too, may have started with a prelude in which Hannah was still home and communicating with people in a rudimentary way, without encoding the interactions into memory.

— naomi fry, The New Yorker, "How a Young Woman Lost Her Identity," 26 Mar. 2018
Still, the pros traditionally dealt with rudimentary ways of physical fitness until a Pied Piper named Tiger Woods showed up on the cover of Men’s Fitness showing off some serious guns in 2007.

— george diaz, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Henrik Stenson, peers stay on par with fitness at tour performance center," 16 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rudimentary.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.