PRIMITIVE: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for PRIMITIVE?

Need another word that means the same as “primitive”? Find 37 synonyms and 30 related words for “primitive” in this overview.

The synonyms of “Primitive” are: naive, archaic, crude, rude, ancient, earliest, first, prehistoric, antediluvian, antique, primordial, primeval, primal, primary, lower, original, preliterate, simple, natural, unsophisticated, unaffected, undeveloped, childlike, innocent, artless, unpretentious, rough, basic, elementary, rudimentary, unrefined, rough and ready, makeshift, incomplete, embryonic, immature, primitive person

Primitive as a Noun

Definitions of "Primitive" as a noun

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “primitive” as a noun can have the following definitions:

• An artist deliberately employing a simple, naive style.
• A person who belongs to an early stage of civilization.
• Any of a set of basic geometric shapes which may be generated in computer graphics.
• A person belonging to a preliterate, non-industrial society.
• A painting by a primitive artist, or an object in a primitive style.
• A word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms.
• An algebraic or geometric expression from which another is derived; a curve of which another is the polar or reciprocal.
• A word, base, or root from which another is historically derived.
• A mathematical expression from which another expression is derived.
• A pre-Renaissance painter, or one who imitates the pre-Renaissance style.

Synonyms of "Primitive" as a noun (1 Word)

Usage Examples of "Primitive" as a noun

• The program includes a complete set of drawing primitives.
• Santa Fe style antiques and Mexican primitives.
• The Catalan primitives.
• Ohio primitives such as treenware utensils.
• `pick' is the primitive from which `picket' is derived.
• Reports of travellers and missionaries described contemporary primitives.

Primitive as an Adjective

Definitions of "Primitive" as an adjective

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “primitive” as an adjective can have the following definitions:

• Belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness.
• Relating to or denoting a preliterate, non-industrial society or culture characterized by simple social and economic organization.
• Not developed or derived from anything else.
• Of or denoting a simple, naive style of art that deliberately rejects sophisticated artistic techniques.
• Relating to, denoting, or preserving the character of an early stage in the evolutionary or historical development of something.
• (of an algebraic or geometric expression) from which another is derived, or which is not itself derived from another.
• Denoting a word, base, or root from which another is historically derived.
• (of a part or structure) in the first or early stage of formation or growth; rudimentary.
• (of behaviour or emotion) apparently originating in unconscious needs or desires and unaffected by objective reasoning.
• Of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style.
• Used of preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial societies.
• Little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type.
• Very basic or unsophisticated in terms of comfort, convenience, or efficiency.

Synonyms of "Primitive" as an adjective (36 Words)

Usage Examples of "Primitive" as an adjective

• Primitive art such as that by Grandma Moses is often colorful and striking.
• The Fauves saw primitive art as a liberating force.
• Primitive Germanic.
• Primitive living conditions in the Appalachian mountains.
• Primitive movies of the 1890s.
• Primitive people.
• The accommodation at the camp was a bit primitive.
• Primitive material of the universe.
• Primitive mammals.
• The okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe.
• Primitive societies.
• The primitive responses we share with many animals.

Associations of "Primitive" (30 Words)