Neanderthals

noun

plural of Neanderthal
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

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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
  1. losers
  2. barbarians
  3. lumps
  4. troglodytes
  5. hulks
  6. animals
  7. idiots
  8. cavemen
Noun
  • Four of the last seven Super Bowl losers missed the playoffs the next season, including the last two (the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers).
    — Chad Graff, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Here’s a look at how the global economy has weathered the war — and the winners and losers.
    — Matt Sedensky, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of losers
Noun
  • If OpenAI’s agents are Romans, humanity represents the barbarians.
    — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Such mutinous talk only heightened conservative Justices’ sense that the barbarians were storming the gate.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of barbarians
Noun
  • In a small bowl, mix together the tahini, sesame oil, miso, vanilla, and 1/4 cup (60g) warm water until no lumps of miso remain.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Ahead of Labor Day, Amazon has more wireless bras on sale starting at just $10 that smooth, support, and move with you without unwanted wires, lumps, or bumps.
    — Jeaneen Russell, PEOPLE, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of lumps
Noun
  • 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
Definition of troglodytes
Noun
  • Water levels on the Danube River, the second longest in Europe, have dropped so low because of drought that the hulks of dozens of World War II German battleships — and even the remains of an ancient woolly mammoth — are emerging into view.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of hulks
Noun
  • The body itself was badly decomposed after spending an unknown amount of time exposed to the elements, with animals, bugs and rain, plus 50 years in storage.
    — Taylor Romine, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Because the existing hole was too small, crews used a saw to cut a larger opening and lowered a ladder inside to give the animals an easy way out.
    — Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of animals
Noun
  • That's the continous nonsense these idiots provide to a website like OutKick.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Tallahassee lawmakers must think their constituents are idiots.
    — Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of idiots
Noun
  • The findings add to a growing body of evidence that Neanderthals — our closest extinct human relatives — were cognitively and psychologically more similar to modern humans than previously thought, rather than the simple-minded, brutish cavemen of earlier stereotypes.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 13 May 2026
  • The strip explored the life of a group of cavemen and their anthropomorphic animals and dinosaurs in prehistoric times, and has been in production for nearly 70 years, currently managed by Hart’s family.
    — Arushi Jacob, Variety, 2 Apr. 2026
Definition of cavemen
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Neanderthal
Neanderthals
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Cite this Entry

“Neanderthals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Neanderthals. Accessed 7 Sep. 2026.

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