BARBARIAN Synonyms: 32 Similar and Opposite Words

barbarian 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of barbarian

as in savage

not civilized people who were regarded as barbarian by the ancient Romans

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

barbarian

2 of 2

noun

bär-ˈber-ē-ən

as in primitive

an uncivilized person the invading Germanic tribes were viewed as barbarians by the citizens of ancient Rome

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of barbarian

Adjective

The economy will not thrive on backward, barbarian technologies and our babies will suffer from the burden of debt, bad air and blackouts. — Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 June 2025 Built on the site of an ancient Roman fortress that protected the empire from barbarian invasion, the castle was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries. — Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 10 June 2025

Noun

Such mutinous talk only heightened conservative Justices’ sense that the barbarians were storming the gate. — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026 The world drew heavily from the paintings of fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta, who depicted scenes of barbarians and beasts in conflict, of pulp fiction heroes, femme fatales, and fierce warrior women. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 29 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for barbarian

Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbarian

Adjective

Reducing Gulliver’s Travels to only a topsy-turvy tale of humans both tiny and massive is to ignore the savage intellect that penned its words.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2026
In ancient, supposedly more savage times, public killings were common.

— Dr. Michael Good, Hartford Courant, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of savage

Noun

Inventory scanners flag every primitive the library makes available.

— Atsushi Yamada, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2026
What follows this admission is a piercing dissection not of the art itself, but of frameworks of looking at Black art and life that go beyond racist tropes disguised as appeals to the primitive, the spontaneous, the corporeal.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 Mar. 2026

Definition of primitive

Adjective

Don’t expect Miss Manners ever to issue an OK-to-be-rude pass.

— Judith Martin, Sun Sentinel, 2 Nov. 2026
Rosie Campbell, Managing Director of Eleos AI Research, a nonprofit dedicated to understanding and addressing the potential well-being of AI, said that some other studies have even shown that rude questions can actually improve results.

— Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of rude

Adjective

The Colts have been engaged in trade discussions with players like Jonathan Taylor and Josh Downs after dealing Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner to kick off what many expect to be a wild trade deadline period.

— Scott Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 7 Nov. 2026
Representations of fauna include horses, deer, wild oxen, and at least one bear, though identification is difficult due to the limited depiction of details such as eyes, nostrils, hooves, manes, and coats.

— News Desk, Artforum, 6 Nov. 2026

Definition of wild

Adjective

Stephen Miller is the architect of the most barbaric, inhumane policies of this administration.

— Emily Feng, NPR, 6 Nov. 2026
What readers are saying The comments reflect a strong opposition to the death penalty, criticizing it as barbaric and ineffective in deterring crime.

— Katie Mettler, Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of barbaric

Adjective

The chaos in Ithaca may be political and ethical—a violation of custom—but stretches of the poem are barbarous and wild, beyond civilized life altogether.

— David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026
Seeking to eliminate Berber forces in the barren mountains of northern Morocco, seven soldiers obediently follow their fanatical sergeant (Víctor Clavijo) into barbarous depths of depravity.

— Ed Meza, Variety, 16 May 2026

Definition of barbarous

Adjective

But the show repeatedly undercuts that point of view by halfway reinforcing the age-old American assumption that crime is born of poor individual choices among an uncivilized populace, not of poverty, desperation, and preservation, both self and communal.

— Andy Andersen, Vulture, 27 June 2026
Colonial technology came for his kingdom, regardless, and the forces of modernity ended up demonizing those who didn’t embrace technology as backward and uncivilized.

— Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2026

Definition of uncivilized

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barbarian

barbarianism

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“Barbarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbarian. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of barbarian

adjective

noun

Example Sentences

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