1
as in main
coming before all others in importance
the primal theme of the essay is toleration of religious diversity
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ancient
relating to or occurring near the beginning of a process, series, or time period
there was a period of primal idealism after the founding of the republic and before the rise of partisan politics
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of primal
This great, deep, profound, primal passion for performing and for sharing that experience with the artists on stage, the cast and the band, and sharing that with the audience, is one of my favorite things in in my whole life.
—
Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 17 May 2025
Rayburn partners up with local sheriff Alice Gustafson (Annabelle Wallis) in a somber yet tumultuous pursuit of a killer who uses brutal traps and primal tactics.
—Travis Bean, Forbes.com, 17 May 2025
His online content often featured graphic and intense visuals—such as eating raw liver, dragging weights using his teeth or engaging in ice baths—designed to represent resilience and primal strength.
—Dan Cody, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 May 2025
So what’s unleashed is just this primal anger and frustration.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for primal
Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 17 May 2025
Rayburn partners up with local sheriff Alice Gustafson (Annabelle Wallis) in a somber yet tumultuous pursuit of a killer who uses brutal traps and primal tactics.
—Travis Bean, Forbes.com, 17 May 2025
His online content often featured graphic and intense visuals—such as eating raw liver, dragging weights using his teeth or engaging in ice baths—designed to represent resilience and primal strength.
—Dan Cody, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 May 2025
So what’s unleashed is just this primal anger and frustration.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for primal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for primal
Adjective
-
Israel hit Iran’s main enrichment site at Natanz, its leading nuclear scientists, and struck the heart of its ballistic missile program, Netanyahu said.—
Spencer Kimball,Lee Ying Shan,
CNBC,
13 June 2025
-
While the offensive was a strategic defeat for the communists, its main casualty was President Lyndon Johnson.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
12 June 2025
Adjective
-
Casablanca has opened its first stand-alone store at 62 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, and is shaking up the neighborhood with a colorful, youthful energy and interiors inspired by ancient Greece, Japan and the game of tennis.—
Samantha Conti,
Footwear News,
6 June 2025
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Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico This UNESCO World Heritage Site features ancient Puebloan structures aligned with solar events like Casa Rinconada.—
Emese Maczko,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
Adjective
-
Houde said these mammoth animals are a primitive group of proboscideans ('elephantoids') from which modern elephants evolved.—
Joseph J. Kolb,
Fox News,
18 July 2017
-
Many are primitive and remote, and don’t have restrooms or water.—
OregonLive.com,
OregonLive.com,
12 July 2017
Adjective
-
The gluteus medius muscle, a smaller buttock muscle located underneath the gluteus maximus, is the primary muscle supporting the pelvis. 4.—
Aubrey Bailey,
Verywell Health,
5 June 2025
-
The dining room and kitchen lead to an expansive primary suite overlooking the backyard terrace.—
David Caraccio,
Sacbee.com,
5 June 2025
Adjective
-
The limp is the primeval sign, in many cultural myth systems, of autochthony: humans born from the earth, parentless.—
Nicholas Dames,
Harpers Magazine,
29 Apr. 2025
-
But in this primeval stage, nearly all of the potential Democratic candidates are discussing problems that have bedeviled their party for years: how to win back working-class voters, how aggressively to oppose President Trump and how to reach voters beyond the traditional news media.—
Lisa Lerer,
New York Times,
18 May 2025
Adjective
-
After a 30-minute tug of war, finally seeing the bony plates of the prehistoric fish emerge from the murky depths of the Snake feels like uncovering the last surviving creature to slither out of the primordial ooze shortly after the Earth cooled.—
Chris Dorsey,
Forbes.com,
9 June 2025
-
Visitors to the La Brea Tar Pits are aware of the species’ role in the ecosystem of primordial Southern California, thanks to a wall at the museum displaying hundreds of dire wolf skulls extracted from the ooze.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
But the predominant theme of the debate was Cuomo facing attacks from the eight other candidates, who laced into him on everything from public safety and education to affordable housing production and the ex-governor’s integrity.—
Josephine Stratman,
New York Daily News,
5 June 2025
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Apparently natural selection among the Uru, Aymara and Quechua peoples of the Bolivian Altiplano took DNA sequences that are present but rare in other populations around the world and increased their frequency to the point where the normally uncommon sequences are predominant in these groups.—
Kermit Pattison,
Scientific American,
20 May 2025
Adjective
-
Since gold is nearly indestructible and has been recycled many times, much of the gold used today dates from prehistoric ages.—
David Szondy
June 07,
New Atlas,
7 June 2025
-
More fossils will be needed to know if the prehistoric waterwheels grew snap traps to enclose small aquatic invertebrates, like its modern counterparts, but the lineage was already present during a time when the world was warmer and wetter, and mammals were just beginning to get big.—
Riley Black,
Smithsonian Magazine,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Primal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/primal. Accessed 16 Jun. 2025.
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