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

Then, a thousand years after Rome fell to barbarians, Italy brightly lit the paths of the Renaissance for others to follow. — Gary Grasso, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026 There are barbarians with battle axes and swords, robots with laser guns, spaceships, a warlock with a skull for a face. — Mike Ryan, IndieWire, 4 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for barbarian

Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbarian

Adjective

Onscreen, this ethnic conflict allowed Ken-san and other kimonoed gangsters to be presented as pure, sincere, patriotic heroes fighting for traditional Japanese values against savage aliens as well as local, gun-toting yakuza.

— Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
The Indian pilot who fought off a savage attack by his copilot and helped prevent an apparent hijack of a Flydubai plane heading to Israel with more than 170 people on board is being hailed as a hero.

— Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 1 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

Were my siblings rude to ignore my plan and take them for themselves?

— Judith Martin, Sun Sentinel, 14 Oct. 2026
An alligator with a sense of humor knocked on a North Carolina woman’s front door in the middle of the night, and the rascal got a rather rude response.

— Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of rude

Adjective

The study, led by researchers at the University of Nottingham and Tohoku University in Japan, examined wild Euhadra snails to understand the biological mechanisms behind this phenomenon, known as chirality.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
The leaves aren’t the only things wild with color this season.

— Ciarra Lorren Zatorski, Vogue, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of wild

Adjective

In no way can [Hasan's] actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.

— Dan Mangan,Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2026
Earlier today Opinion Megan McArdle Think a firing squad is barbaric?

— Edith Pritchett, Washington Post, 10 Oct. 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.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbarian. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of barbarian

adjective

noun

Example Sentences

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