as in barbarian
a man with crude manners and habits and outmoded attitudes
married a caveman who spends all his free time swigging beer and watching sports on TV
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 caveman
The fork-tender caveman-size shank is blanketed in sautéed endive and a bright lemon-egg-dill sauce.
—
Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 4 Jan. 2026
Didn’t perpetually enraged caveman Spear meet his end at the hands of a demonic giant made of fire?
—Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 30 Dec. 2025
Two slack-jawed, bare- foot drummers are wailing a caveman beat in unison—their syncopation and their short, efficient haircuts mark them as obvious members of a cult.
—Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 28 Aug. 2025
Then language itself breaks apart into letters and sounds, grunted like cavemen incanting around a campfire.
—Theater Critic, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for caveman
Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 4 Jan. 2026
Didn’t perpetually enraged caveman Spear meet his end at the hands of a demonic giant made of fire?
—Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 30 Dec. 2025
Two slack-jawed, bare- foot drummers are wailing a caveman beat in unison—their syncopation and their short, efficient haircuts mark them as obvious members of a cult.
—Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 28 Aug. 2025
Then language itself breaks apart into letters and sounds, grunted like cavemen incanting around a campfire.
—Theater Critic, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for caveman
Recent Examples of Synonyms for caveman
Noun
-
In most academic histories of European imperialism written in this century, the Europeans are the barbarians, killing and raping and looting on an unprecedented scale.—
David A. Bell,
The New York Review of Books,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Yet the fact that Native Americans were not Christians but instead animists meant that Europeans viewed them as heathens, pagans, and barbarians, with few claims to the dignity to which Christians were entitled.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
An account on the social media platform X, purporting to be Jonathan's veterinarian Joe Hollins, posted an announcement that the animal had died at age 193.—
Natalie Neysa Alund,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Scythia’s plants are its animals, and vice versa, blooming and breeding in alternate generations.—
Stephanie Burt,
New Yorker,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Among the highlights is a chance to set foot on the coral island of Rurutu, with troglodyte caves and hiking routes.—
Chrissie McClatchie,
Travel + Leisure,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Many wonders made the list, including royal burial grounds in Egypt, an Indonesian archipelago of 1,500 islands and Turkish cliffs formerly inhabited by Bronze Age troglodytes (cave dwellers).—
John Metcalfe,
Mercury News,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Caveman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/caveman. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
