1
as in hulk
a big clumsy often slow-witted person
they looked like a tribe of Neanderthals compared to the bridegroom's patrician-looking family
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in barbarian
a man with crude manners and habits and outmoded attitudes
made the mistake of dining with some Neanderthal who repeatedly mistook his shirtsleeve for a napkin
Synonyms & Similar Words
variants
or Neandertal
as in rude
not civilized
her boyfriend's Neanderthal tastes and manners were often embarrassing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Neanderthal
Noun
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There, beside the shiplike hulk of the Basilica of San Petronio—which is a work in progress, the foundation stone having been laid in 1390, and which somebody really should get around to finishing one of these days—was a vast white screen.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025 -
Like the port-holes of a hulk, Human spiders spin and spin, Backward down their threads so thin Dropping, each a hempen bulk.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The Gauls had been described as barbarians by Julius Caesar and Livy, but now had become these Ur people, far more ancient and civilized than their ancient Roman detractors.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Bautista will have the plum role of the immortal barbarian known as The Kurgen, who has been killing other immortals across the centuries in order to absorb their essence.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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For three long weeks that began to seem rude or impertinent, as if the Prize hadn’t been announced, as if a king and queen weren’t waiting for his answer, Dylan said nothing about the award.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
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According to Dakota, the sisters once had a tense encounter with a rude man that ended with the Complete Unknown star's drink all over him.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Women may also be less likely to feel a distinct lump during a breast self-exam, which can delay detection.—
Faye Chiu,
CNN Money,
22 Oct. 2025
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These include things like oats, coconut glycerin, and peanut butter in the lumps of coal biscuits, oats, peanut butter and bacon in the bac’n nutty biscuits, and chickpeas, tapioca flour and apples in the brushy sticks.—
Christine Persaud,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
How did Indigenous people in North America interpret fossils of dinosaurs and other long-extinct animals?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Oct. 2025
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His teachers corrected his posture and his hands; the angle of the arms and the way the wrist releases into the top of the drum, or drum head which usually is made from animal skin.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Rader’s double life as a doting father and savage murderer is the subject of the new Netflix documentary My Father, the BTK Killer, based on his daughter Kerri Rawson’s search to make sense of the secret double life her father hid from his family.—
Johnny Dodd,
PEOPLE,
22 Oct. 2025
-
The ensuing carnage was swift and savage.—
Paul Solotaroff,
Rolling Stone,
12 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Hochul did not want to back a loser, and with Mamdani winning, the Democrats locally and nationally need to show party unity, and that should have also figured into Jeffries's decision.—
Anna Commander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
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He was fraudulently declared the loser and forced into exile by Maduro.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Two slack-jawed, bare- foot drummers are wailing a caveman beat in unison—their syncopation and their short, efficient haircuts mark them as obvious members of a cult.—
Pat Blashill,
Rolling Stone,
28 Aug. 2025
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Here are some surprising ways to stay safe What is the 'caveman method'?—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
6 July 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Neanderthal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Neanderthal. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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