Adjacent Words

Barbarian definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BARBA'RIAN, n. [L. barbarus;. The sense is, foreign, wild, fierce.]
1. A man in his rude, savage state; an uncivilized person.
2. A cruel, savage, brutal man; one destitute of pity or humanity.
3. A foreigner. The Greeks and Romans denominated most foreign nations barbarians; and many of these were less civilized than themselves, or unacquainted with their language, laws and manners. But with them,the word was less reproachful than with us.
BARBA'RIAN, a. Belonging to savages; rude; uncivilized.
2. Cruel; inhuman.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: without civilizing influences; "barbarian invaders"; "barbaric practices"; "a savage people"; "fighting is crude and uncivilized especially if the weapons are efficient"-Margaret Meade; "wild tribes" [syn: barbarian, barbaric, savage, uncivilized, uncivilised, wild] n
1: a member of an uncivilized people [syn: savage, barbarian]
2: a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement [syn: peasant, barbarian, boor, churl, Goth, tyke, tike]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin barbarus — more at barbarous Date: 14th century 1. of or relating to a land, culture, or people alien and usually believed to be inferior to another land, culture, or people 2. lacking refinement, learning, or artistic or literary culture • barbarian noun • barbarianism noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. 1 an uncultured or brutish person; a lout. 2 a member of a primitive community or tribe. --adj. 1 rough and uncultured. 2 uncivilized. Etymology: orig. of any foreigner with a different language or customs: F barbarien f. barbare (as BARBAROUS)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Barbarian Bar*ba"ri*an, n. [See Barbarous.] 1. A foreigner. [Historical] Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. --? Cor. xiv. 11. 2. A man in a rule, savage, or uncivilized state. 3. A person destitute of culture. --M. Arnold. 4. A cruel, savage, brutal man; one destitute of pity or humanity. ``Thou fell barbarian.'' --Philips.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Barbarian Bar*ba"ri*an, a. Of, or pertaining to, or resembling, barbarians; rude; uncivilized; barbarous; as, barbarian governments or nations.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(barbarians) 1. In former times, barbarians were people from other countries who were thought to be uncivilized and violent. The Roman Empire was overrun by Nordic barbarians. N-COUNT 2. If you describe someone as a barbarian, you disapprove of them because they behave in a way that is cruel or uncivilized. Our maths teacher was a bully and a complete barbarian... We need to fight this barbarian attitude to science. N-COUNT [disapproval]

Easton's Bible Dictionary

a Greek word used in the New Testament (Rom. 1:14) to denote one of another nation. In Col. 3:11, the word more definitely designates those nations of the Roman empire that did not speak Greek. In 1 Cor. 14:11, it simply refers to one speaking a different language. The inhabitants of Malta are so called (Acts 28:1,2, 4). They were originally a Carthaginian colony. This word nowhere in Scripture bears the meaning it does in modern times.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Savage. 2. Brute, ruffian, brutal monster. II. a. 1. Uncivilized, rude, savage, barbarous, barbaric. 2. Inhuman, brutal, cruel, unfeeling, ruthless, truculent, ferocious, fierce, fell, bloody, brutish. See barbarous.

Moby Thesaurus

Goth, Gothic, Neanderthal, Uitlander, alien, animal, anthropophagite, backward, barbaric, barbarous, beast, bestial, bloodthirsty, boor, boorish, brutal, brute, brutish, cannibal, churl, churlish, clod, coarse, crude, cruel, deracine, destroyer, displaced person, emigre, exile, exotic, exterior, external, extraneous, extraterrestrial, extrinsic, ferocious, foreign, foreign devil, foreign-born, foreigner, graceless, gringo, heathenish, hooligan, hyena, ignoramus, ill-bred, ill-mannered, impolite, inhuman, insensitive, intrusive, lout, loutish, lowbrow, man-eater, nihilist, noncivilized, oaf, oafish, outland, outlander, outlandish, outlaw, outside, outsider, philistine, primitive, refugee, rough, rough-and-ready, rude, ruffian, savage, shark, skinhead, strange, stranger, tasteless, the Wandering Jew, tiger, tough, tramontane, troglodyte, troglodytic, ulterior, ultramontane, uncivil, uncivilized, uncombed, uncouth, uncultivated, uncultured, unearthly, unkempt, unlicked, unpolished, unrefined, untamed, vandal, vandalic, vulgar, wanderer, wild, wild man, wrecker, yahoo