as in barbarian
not civilized
unfairly branded as uncivilized by European explorers, they had created a culture that was actually quite advanced
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Recent Examples of uncivilized
Forcing a woman to choose between jail and carrying her rapist's baby is uncivilized and medieval.
—
CNN, 27 June 2022
There is no doubt uncivilized — and sometimes violent — acts have taken place in school bathrooms.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 26 June 2022
Roxane Gay: For all our cultural obsession with civility, there is nothing more uncivilized than the political establishment’s acceptance of the constancy of mass shootings.
—New York Times, 26 May 2022
Sure, the song (apparently written about writer Quentin Crisp) is just about the alienating sense of being an outsider, of having people judge you for your accent or aspiring to civility in an uncivilized land.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Apr. 2022
See All Example Sentences for uncivilized
CNN, 27 June 2022
There is no doubt uncivilized — and sometimes violent — acts have taken place in school bathrooms.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 26 June 2022
Roxane Gay: For all our cultural obsession with civility, there is nothing more uncivilized than the political establishment’s acceptance of the constancy of mass shootings.
—New York Times, 26 May 2022
Sure, the song (apparently written about writer Quentin Crisp) is just about the alienating sense of being an outsider, of having people judge you for your accent or aspiring to civility in an uncivilized land.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Apr. 2022
See All Example Sentences for uncivilized
Recent Examples of Synonyms for uncivilized
Adjective
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Ashley Johnson and star/executive producer Travis Willingham tee up what's coming for their soft barbarian lady.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Oct. 2025
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As a benevolent barbarian warrior in the mythical land of Hyrkania, Sonja is enslaved and imprisoned by the ecocidal emperor known as Draygan (Robert Sheehan).—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Pete Hegseth rebukes 'rude' reporter who interrupted Pentagon briefing on Iran.—
,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2026
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Meanwhile, wearing baseball caps backward is considered a rude violation of etiquette, and going barefoot is not allowed.—
Samantha Stutsman,
PEOPLE,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The famed African American journalist investigated lynchings across the South and wrote about the savage incidents that the white press had already explained away.—
Case Thorp,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 Apr. 2026
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The loss of books is minor, almost trivial, in light of all the horrors and violence unleashed by this senseless war, but the potential loss of these books is a sad reminder that we’re all affected and implicated in America’s savage flailings.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Her work plainly belongs to this lineage of witchy writers, women whose deliciously corrupted scenes of home and hearth produce fear and wild laughter at once.—
Kristen Roupenian,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
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Sure, there were errant 3-pointers, and a wild reverse layup that was way off in the third quarter.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
6 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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There are also several primitive campgrounds spaced out around the park.—
Carrie Honaker,
Travel + Leisure,
3 Apr. 2026
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Seidle sketches out miniature worlds on his Casio with the oblong abstractions of a kindergartener doodling on a piece of paper, his primitive songs existing in a kind of nascent pre-genre state.—
Sam Goldner,
Pitchfork,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Lies told by people who are simply too afraid to look at such an ugly, barbarous reality.—
Clare Malone,
New Yorker,
19 Jan. 2026
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In the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis, a man dressed as a cop shot two Democratic lawmakers and their spouses, killing the DFL speaker of the House and her husband in a barbarous (and politically motivated) atrocity.—
Jeffrey Blehar,
National Review,
14 June 2025
Adjective
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During the Middle Ages, for example, many contemporary accounts from both Christian and Muslim societies depicted their opposing side as barbaric, blasphemous, and inferior.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
19 Mar. 2026
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Reports say Mohammadi was killed in a public hanging seen as a barbaric move by the Iranian regime to snuff out the ongoing movement seeking to topple it, according to Iranian American human rights activists and dissidents.—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
19 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Uncivilized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uncivilized. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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