as in barbarian
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Recent Examples of noble savage
The curtain was ornately embroidered with images of bears, onion domes, and noble savages untainted by logic.
—
Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 24 July 2023
Native Americans have long been depicted in Hollywood films and television projects as either bloodthirsty barbarians or noble savages.
—Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone, 9 June 2023
This palpable connection yields highly intimate moments, while jettisoning the cliché of the noble savage by underscoring the acute awareness this community has of its political context, environmental issues and new ways of confronting these realities provided by technology and mass media.
—Emiliano Granada, Variety, 29 May 2023
To romanticize the lost past is to risk another form of exoticization, casting Indigenous peoples as beatifically wise ancients — the archetype of the noble savage — and thus depriving them of dimension and a stake in modernity.
—New York Times, 17 Feb. 2022
Rather the novel presents Tarzan as Rousseau’s unspoiled child of nature, a literally noble savage free from the vices and corruption associated with advanced industrial society.
—Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2020
Whereas the book’s white characters are nuanced, Indian characters are reduced to dangerous adversaries or noble savages.
—Elena Nicolaou, refinery29.com, 24 Aug. 2019
That’s the only yeti to be found in the script, except obliquely, perhaps, in its endorsement of Rousseau’s concept of the noble savage.
—Margaret Gray, latimes.com, 7 June 2019
Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 24 July 2023
Native Americans have long been depicted in Hollywood films and television projects as either bloodthirsty barbarians or noble savages.
—Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone, 9 June 2023
This palpable connection yields highly intimate moments, while jettisoning the cliché of the noble savage by underscoring the acute awareness this community has of its political context, environmental issues and new ways of confronting these realities provided by technology and mass media.
—Emiliano Granada, Variety, 29 May 2023
To romanticize the lost past is to risk another form of exoticization, casting Indigenous peoples as beatifically wise ancients — the archetype of the noble savage — and thus depriving them of dimension and a stake in modernity.
—New York Times, 17 Feb. 2022
Rather the novel presents Tarzan as Rousseau’s unspoiled child of nature, a literally noble savage free from the vices and corruption associated with advanced industrial society.
—Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2020
Whereas the book’s white characters are nuanced, Indian characters are reduced to dangerous adversaries or noble savages.
—Elena Nicolaou, refinery29.com, 24 Aug. 2019
That’s the only yeti to be found in the script, except obliquely, perhaps, in its endorsement of Rousseau’s concept of the noble savage.
—Margaret Gray, latimes.com, 7 June 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for noble savage
Noun
-
Per this year’s edition of AIR MAIL’s annual Over-Under List, caviar bumps—where barbarians (TikTokers) lick precious fish eggs off the back of their hands like table salt before a gag-inducing tequila shot—are out!—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
20 Dec. 2025
-
We were inspired by their outrageous VHS cover art that promised epic tales of heroic barbarians rescuing buxom babes from giant monsters.—
Bear McCreary,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Brutal, savage, and gory, this movie follows a home invasion on Christmas Eve where a mysterious woman (Béatrice Dalle) tries to steal an unborn baby right out of another woman's (Alysson Paradis) pregnant belly.—
Huntley Woods,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Dec. 2025
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Eleonora wearing a snake, Nicole’s Reputation hair from earlier in the season, the use of the word savage constantly and from out of nowhere.—
Anne Victoria Clark,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Burlington Antique Show Browse more than 200 dealers of antiques, vintage jewelry, primitives, garden and architectural elements, mid-century collectibles, memorabilia, Americana and retro/vintage furniture at this monthly outdoor antique market.—
Luann Gibbs,
The Enquirer,
14 Aug. 2024
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It can be used to achieve a lot of other cryptographic primitives.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
1 Aug. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Noble savage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/noble%20savage. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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