Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, relating to, or characteristic of barbarians.
- adjective Marked by crudeness or lack of sophistication.
- adjective Brutal or cruel.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Foreign.
- Uncivilized; barbarian: as, “barbaric or Gothic invaders,” T. Warton, On Milton's Smaller Poems.
- Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of barbarians or their art; hence, ornate without being in accordance with cultivated taste; wildly rich or magnificent.
- Synonyms Barbarian, Barbarous, Barbaric. See
barbarian .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of, or from, barbarian nations; foreign; -- often with reference to barbarous nations of east.
- adjective Of or pertaining to, or resembling, an uncivilized person or people; barbarous; barbarian; destitute of refinement.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of or relating to a
barbarian ;uncivilised ,uncultured oruncouth .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective without civilizing influences
- adjective unrestrained and crudely rich
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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It was not a success; but some day the race will produce pearls from cultivated oyster beds as we now get our eggs from chickens; that is, provided the coming man is not to regard jewelry of all kinds as barbaric -- "_barbaric_ pearls and gold" are Milton's very words, and great poets are prophets.
Round the World Andrew Carnegie 1877
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"My problem with the use of the word barbaric is that it was chosen to reassure Canadians rather than actually change unacceptable behaviours," he said.
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The term barbaric seem to have goodness of fit for the situation described above.
DaddyBlogger.com 2009
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In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner called the Syrian attacks "barbaric," adding, "We don't throw the word 'barbaric' around here very often."
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State Department spokesman Mark Toner called the Syrian attacks "barbaric," adding, "We don't throw the word 'barbaric' around here very often."
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Libyan TV broadcast live pictures of what it called "barbaric crusader bombing" and warned citizens to keep away from ordnance, saying it could contain illegal chemical or biological substances.
Is Muammar Gaddafi a target? PM and military split over war aims 2011
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Prosecutors alleged that the coach Jason Stinson is responsible for running what they call a barbaric practice forcing players to run sprints with very little water.
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SNOW: Prosecutors allege Stinson subjected the boy to what they called barbaric conditioning.
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Prosecutors charge that Max's coach, Jason Stinson, is responsible for running what they call a barbaric practice, forcing players to run sprints with little water.
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What is fair and what is foul is sometimes up for cultural interpretation, and it is difficult to reconcile ourselves to behavior which we call barbaric and another culture might call honorable.
Archive 2007-12-01 Jacqueline T Lynch 2007
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