troglodyte

noun

trog·​lo·​dyte ˈträ-glə-ˌdīt 

1

: a member of any of various peoples (as in antiquity) who lived or were reputed to live chiefly in caves

2

: a person characterized by reclusive habits or outmoded or reactionary attitudes

troglodytic

ˌträ-glə-ˈdi-tik 

adjective

Did you know?

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").

Synonyms

• barbarian
• animal
• caveman

Examples of troglodyte in a Sentence

a political troglodyte who didn't have a grasp of the concerns of young voters

Recent Examples on the Web

Many wonders made the list, including royal burial grounds in Egypt, an Indonesian archipelago of 1,500 islands and Turkish cliffs formerly inhabited by Bronze Age troglodytes (cave dwellers). —John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 24 Oct. 2025

Mini Winnie is a western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), a subspecies whose numbers have plummeted by more than 80% in the last two decades. —Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 19 Apr. 2025

Warren Buffet was considered a technical troglodyte for never investing in the dot-com boom. —Neil Senturia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Mar. 2025

Related Stories Fire rages in the forest one night when the village’s de facto guardian Maxim (Willem Dafoe), and his troupe of gun-toting child troglodytes trained in his image, hunt the Ochi (humans blame them for the disappearance of farm animals). —Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 27 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin troglodytae, plural, from Greek trōglodytai, from trōglē hole, cave (akin to Greek trōgein to gnaw, Armenian aracem I lead to pasture, graze) + dyein to enter

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for troglodyte

• acolyte
• aconite
• allanite
• alunite
• amberlite
• ammonite
• amorite
• amphitrite
• analyte
• anchorite
• andesite
• anhydrite

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