barbarous

1 having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others the barbarous treatment of the native peoples of the New World by those bent on conquest at any cost Synonyms atrocious, barbaric, cruel, brutal, brute, butcherly, fiendish, heartless, inhuman, inhumane, sadistic, savage, truculent, vicious, wantonRelated Words hard-hearted, ironhearted, merciless, pitiless, ruthless, stonyhearted, unfeeling; fell, ferocious, grim; bloodthirsty, cutthroat, murderous, sanguinary, sanguine; catty, despiteful, hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean, nasty, spiteful, vindictive; draconian, draconic, hardhanded, harsh, heavy-handed, oppressiveNear Antonyms tender, warm, warmhearted; charitable, clement, lenient, merciful, pitying; pacific, peaceable, peacefulAntonyms benign, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, humane, kind, kindhearted, sympathetic, tenderhearted

2 not civilized an aunt who abhors barbarous behavior such as eating with your fingers Synonyms barbarian, barbaric, savage, heathen, heathenish, natural, Neanderthal (or Neandertal), rude, uncivil, uncivilized, uncultivated, wildRelated Words coarse, crude, primitive, rough; uncouth, unculturedNear Antonyms cultured, enlightened, humane, sophisticated; genteel, polished, polite, refined, urbane, well-bred; semicivilizedAntonyms civilized