Definition of TROGLODYTES

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Peer into the etymological cave of troglodyte and you’ll find a trōglē. But don't be afraid. Trōglē may sound like a scary cave-dwelling ogre, but it's actually just a perfectly unintimidating Greek root that means "hole" or "cave." Is troglodyte the only English word to have descended from trōglē? Not exactly. Troglodyte and its related adjective troglodytic (meaning "of, related to, or being a troglodyte") are the only trōglē offspring that are widely used in general English contexts, but another trōglē progeny, the prefix troglo-, meaning "cave-dwelling," is used in scientific contexts to form words like troglobiont ("an animal living in or restricted to caves").

Examples of troglodyte in a Sentence

the troglodytes who believed that women had no place in the military, except perhaps as nurses

Recent Examples on the Web Now Gove’s remark became the source of the ashen taste in the mouths of Remoaner metropolitan elites bewailing how provincial troglodytes, geriatrics, and Little Englanders had dashed their rationalist, internationalist dreams. — Kyle Smith, National Review, "The Experts Lied to Us about Masks," 8 Apr. 2020 Writing critics off as a gang of right-wing troglodytes, the standard tactic of many of Pope Francis’s defenders, is not just derisive and condescending. — Francis X. Maier, National Review, "Pope Francis’s Respectful Critics Deserve Better Than Scorn," 20 Mar. 2020 Pan troglodytes, to use the scientific name for chimps, is one of our closest evolutionary ancestors. — Susan Pinker, WSJ, "Humans and Other Dancing Animals," 25 Jan. 2020 Their species, Pan troglodytes, is classified endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. — David Quammen, National Geographic, "‘I am scared all the time’: Chimps and people are clashing in rural Uganda," 8 Nov. 2019 Set foot inside the amazing cave dwellings known as troglodyte homes—charming houses built in and around cliff-side caverns. — National Geographic, "France Family Journey: From Paris to Normandy and Beyond," 17 June 2019 The animals include short-faced bears known as Arctotherium wingei and the wolf-like Protocyon troglodytes. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Divers Found Giant Bear and Wolf Remains in an Underwater Cave," 2 May 2019 In tourist centers like Alcalá del Júcar, visitors flock to see medieval troglodyte caves, some of which have now been turned into bars and restaurants. — Eric Asimov, New York Times, "The Grape From Manchuela," 21 June 2018 The spelunkers of The Descent are stuck in utter darkness below the Appalachian mountains even without cannibal troglodytes; to be left alone out in the Atlantic Ocean, as in Open Water, is awful enough without sharks. — Asher Elbein, The Atlantic, "The Terror Is More Than a Chilling Monster Show," 1 May 2018

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