primitive
adjective /ˈprɪmətɪv/
/ˈprɪmətɪv/
- [usually before noun] belonging to a very simple society with no industry, etc.
- primitive tribes
- primitive beliefs
- [usually before noun] belonging to an early stage in the development of humans or animals
- primitive man
- very simple and old-fashioned, especially when something is also not convenient and comfortable synonym crude
- The methods of communication used during the war were primitive by today's standards.
- The facilities on the campsite were very primitive.
- Transport remained very primitive.
- [usually before noun] (of a feeling or a desire) very strong and not based on reason, as if from the earliest period of human life
- a primitive instinct
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘original, not derivative’): from Old French primitif, -ive, from Latin primitivus ‘first of its kind’, from primus ‘first’.