barbarian

Meaning

Adj

Relating to people, countries, or customs perceived as uncivilized or inferior.

Noun

1. (historical) A non-Greek or a non-Roman citizen.
2. An uncivilized or uncultured person, originally compared to the hellenistic Greco-Roman civilisation; usually associated with senseless violence and self-harm or other such shows of brute force and lack of mental faculty.
3. (derogatory) A person destitute of culture; a Philistine.
4. (derogatory) Someone from a developing country or backward culture.
5. A brutish warrior depicted in sword and sorcery and other fantasy works; typically clad in primitive furs or leather and usually favoring physical strength over intelligence while often possessing a bellicose temperament and disdain for laws.
6. (derogatory) A cruel, savage, inhumane, brutal, violently aggressive person, particularly one who is unintelligent or dim-witted; one without pity or empathy.
7. (derogatory) A foreigner, especially with barbaric qualities as in the above definitions.

Synonyms

savage

barbarous

barbaric

brutal

boor

inhuman

uncivilized

Goth

foreigner

uncivilized person

atrocious

cruel

wild

churl

unkind

incisive

Persian

vandal

merciless

bloodthirsty

grim

fierce

uncivilised

primitive person

bestial

harsh

aboriginal

non-Arab

tyke

aborigine

tike

peasant

uncultivated

uncultured

underdone

uneducated

ungentlemanly

unlettered

unrefined

unregulated

unripe

unripened

unsophisticated

vulgar

vulgarian

wildcat

yard

bowelless

eskimo

wild man

Translations

barbare

barbaro

Barbar

bárbaro

bàrbar

bárbaro

βάρβαρος

barbaar

barbar

sauvage

Wilder

barbarus

wreedaard

onmens

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɑː(ɹ).ˈbɛə.ɹi.ən/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: barbarian

Cognate with Sanskrit: बर्बर

In summary

From Middle English barbarian, borrowed from Medieval Latin barbarinus (“Berber, pagan, foreigner”), from Latin barbaria (“foreign country”), from barbarus (“foreigner, savage”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign, non-Greek, strange”), possibly onomatopoeic (mimicking foreign languages, akin to English blah blah). Cognate to Sanskrit बर्बर (barbara, “barbarian, non-Aryan, stammering, blockhead”).

Sentences

They provided warnings about thieves and barbarian tribes .