as in relapse
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Recent Examples of atavism
Millet plays with the title and with the idea of atavism, in which an ancient trait asserts itself by skipping forward a few generations to suddenly appear in the gene pool.
—
Heather Scott Partington, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2025
Early on, these doctors-cum-criminal-profilers explained bad apples through theories such as atavism.
—WIRED, 21 Feb. 2023
This sumptuous piece of theatrical atavism bore little resemblance to the actual events of Mozart’s life, but most nonpurist musicians happily accepted the melodramatization; quite apart from the thespian pyrotechnics, the sophisticated choice of music was a revelation.
—Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 22 Dec. 2022
If learning and gentility are signs of civilization, perhaps our almost-big brains are straining against their residual atavism, struggling to expand.
—Richard Granger, Discover Magazine, 31 Oct. 2022
Is my interest in the moon some dormant atavism from a more primitive era of human life?
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 Oct. 2022
Obama crashed against a wall of atavism and paranoia.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 29 Jan. 2022
This gives his career an arc of atavism and abnegating tragedy, a willful artist hopelessly at the mercy of his obsessions.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2021
Western elites believed that in the twenty-first century, cosmopolitanism and globalism would triumph over atavism and tribal loyalties.
—Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs, 20 Jan. 2017
Heather Scott Partington, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2025
Early on, these doctors-cum-criminal-profilers explained bad apples through theories such as atavism.
—WIRED, 21 Feb. 2023
This sumptuous piece of theatrical atavism bore little resemblance to the actual events of Mozart’s life, but most nonpurist musicians happily accepted the melodramatization; quite apart from the thespian pyrotechnics, the sophisticated choice of music was a revelation.
—Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 22 Dec. 2022
If learning and gentility are signs of civilization, perhaps our almost-big brains are straining against their residual atavism, struggling to expand.
—Richard Granger, Discover Magazine, 31 Oct. 2022
Is my interest in the moon some dormant atavism from a more primitive era of human life?
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 Oct. 2022
Obama crashed against a wall of atavism and paranoia.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 29 Jan. 2022
This gives his career an arc of atavism and abnegating tragedy, a willful artist hopelessly at the mercy of his obsessions.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2021
Western elites believed that in the twenty-first century, cosmopolitanism and globalism would triumph over atavism and tribal loyalties.
—Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs, 20 Jan. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atavism
Noun
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His decision to be open about the relapse was in part thanks to Bradley Cooper.—
Charna Flam,
PEOPLE,
5 Sep. 2025
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Curtis’ research has already led to identification of distinct genomic subtypes that predict a breast cancer relapse up to two decades after diagnosis.—
Mark Tatge,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
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And Green Bay’s Kamal Hadden had a holding penalty on a punt return.—
Rob Reischel,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
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Meanwhile, a 2022 study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston University focused on returns for public pension plans that invest in a mix of public and alternative private assets, like private equity and real estate.—
Jeanne Sahadi,
CNN Money,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
But there are a wide range of both broken skills and weapons (go try out Sturm), and some promised updates or nerf reversions don’t seem to have happened at all.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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To De Luca and Abdy, making that $90-million picture with a reversion deal was a judgment call based on prior results.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The regression in the Dolphins’ vertical passing game, a problem for most of last season, continued in the opener.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
10 Sep. 2025
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Fully Automated Testing, Validation And Optimization Agentic agents dynamically simulate environments, validate configurations and perform regression and performance testing.—
Abhishek Singh,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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House Republicans will discuss a pilot program, set to lapse at the end of the month, that gives members extra money to spend on security in their districts at their weekly conference meeting this morning, per a person familiar.—
Eleanor Mueller,
semafor.com,
16 Sep. 2025
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Those lapses in officiating have just as much impact on the game as those that occur at the last second.—
The Athletic NFL Staff,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Visa retrogression might become more of an issue for Indian and Chinese applicants who invest under the high-unemployment category due to its more limited availability.—
Sam Silverman,
Forbes,
7 Mar. 2025
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Does the Senate really want to put in office a secretary with zero medical training, who believes in raw milk and not in the extraordinary benefits of vaccinations, without asking him about such retrogression?—
Arthur House,
Hartford Courant,
22 Nov. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Atavism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atavism. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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