1
as in losers
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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in barbarians
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
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Neanderthals
Noun
-
The public and private markets have decided that infrastructure companies and the top model developers are the AI winners, while software companies are the likely losers, regardless of how strong their businesses may look today.—
Jordan Novet,
CNBC,
5 Feb. 2026 -
Investors are starting to pick AI winners and losers.—
John Kell,
Fortune,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
And if any of you barbarians out there slather ranch dressing on your wings, there’s a special place in hell just for you.—
Bill Reinhard,
New York Daily News,
5 Feb. 2026
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We were inspired by their outrageous VHS cover art that promised epic tales of heroic barbarians rescuing buxom babes from giant monsters.—
Bear McCreary,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Caglianone took his lumps — most noticeably charted by his chase rate outside the strike zone — in short order.—
Jaylon Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
7 Feb. 2026
-
One easy trick can turn those misshapen lumps with scraggly edges into gorgeous, bakery-worthy treats.—
Alana Al-Hatlani,
Southern Living,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
Noun
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The park offers one of the most exciting wildlife experiences in Southern Africa, with a million acres of biodiverse savannas, wetlands, and montane rainforests, and a range of animals that includes buffalo herds, lion prides, and an array of birds.—
Lisa Grainger,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Feb. 2026
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Since the turn of this century, studies have shown that short periods of radical calorie restriction has outsize benefits for animals.—
The New York Times News Service Syndicate,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Franchises are lost because of proud idiots.—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
3 Feb. 2026
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This happens often enough when one administration succeeds another, to be sure, with the new team insisting that its predecessors were idiots, but the Hegseth Pentagon carries such insults to a new level.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The Dilbert principle — traced back to a quote in a 1995 strip — posited that managers and higher-ups are actually successful morons whose stubbornness is confused for real leadership qualities.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
13 Jan. 2026
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Overwhelmingly, though, the most common response was to seek confirmation of their suspicions that Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were morons.—
Rosa Lyster,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
Noun
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But toads and frogs are also prey animals for owls, hawks, skunks, opossums, and raccoons.—
Michelle Mastro,
Martha Stewart,
6 Feb. 2026
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At night, the desert comes alive with coyote howls, prowling skunks and the possibility of larger cats or black bears nearby.—
Joan Meiners,
AZCentral.com,
6 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Neanderthals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Neanderthals. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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