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Examples of atavism in a Sentence
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Western elites believed that in the twenty-first century, cosmopolitanism and globalism would triumph over atavism and tribal loyalties.
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Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs, 20 Jan. 2017
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
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
Early on, these doctors-cum-criminal-profilers explained bad apples through theories such as atavism.
—WIRED, 21 Feb. 2023
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
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
This was the heyday of Cesare Lombroso’s racist theories about recognizable criminal types and Max Nordau’s study Degeneration, which spread fear of atavism and perversion.
—Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books, 28 May 2020
Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs, 20 Jan. 2017
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
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
Early on, these doctors-cum-criminal-profilers explained bad apples through theories such as atavism.
—WIRED, 21 Feb. 2023
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
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
This was the heyday of Cesare Lombroso’s racist theories about recognizable criminal types and Max Nordau’s study Degeneration, which spread fear of atavism and perversion.
—Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books, 28 May 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'atavism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Atavism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atavism. Accessed 20 Sep. 2024.
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