barbarian

[bahr-bair-ee-uhn]

noun

1. a person in a savage, primitive state; uncivilized person.

2. a person without culture, refinement, or education; philistine.

3. (loosely) a foreigner.

4. (in ancient and medieval periods)

   1. a non-Greek.

   2. a person living outside, especially north of, the Roman Empire.

   3. a person not living in a Christian country or within a Christian civilization.

5. (among Italians during the Renaissance) a person of non-Italian origin.

adjective

1. uncivilized; crude; savage.

   Synonyms: uncultivated, ignorant, coarse, barbaric, rough, wild, primitive, rude
   Antonyms: civilized, cultivated

2. foreign; alien.

barbarian

/ bɑːˈbɛərɪən /

noun

1. a member of a primitive or uncivilized people

2. a coarse, insensitive, or uncultured person

3. a vicious person

adjective

1. of an uncivilized culture

2. insensitive, uncultured, or brutal

Other Word Forms

• barbarianism noun
• half-barbarian adjective
• nonbarbarian adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of barbarian¹

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin barbari(a) “barbarous country” ( barbarous, -ia ) + -an

Word History and Origins

Origin of barbarian¹

C16: see _barbarous

Synonym Study

Barbarian, barbaric, barbarous pertain to uncivilized people. Barbarian is the general word for anything uncivilized: a barbarian tribe. Barbaric has both unfavorable and mildly favorable connotations, implying crudeness of taste or practice, or conveying an idea of rude magnificence and splendor: barbaric noise. Barbarous emphasizes the inhumanity and cruelty of barbarian life: barbarous customs.

Example Sentences

The Padres, on the other hand, are the rebels who won’t surrender, the barbarians at the door trying to steal away their crown.

From Los Angeles Times

They don’t trust us barbarians to care about a world that doesn’t look like our own.

From Los Angeles Times

The walls of the ivory tower have been breached, regardless of whether one believes it is the barbarians - or liberators - at the gate.

From BBC

This is what happens when someone appeases barbarians.

From Salon

After the latest Russian strikes, Polish PM Donald Tusk said: "This is what happens when someone appeases barbarians."

From BBC

When To Use

What does barbarian mean?

The word barbarian is used to refer to a person who’s considered extremely crude and uncivilized.It can also be used as an adjective meaning crude or uncivilized.There are several related words that are used in the context of people or things considered uncivilized or cruel, including the adjectives barbaric and barbarous and the nouns barbarism and barbarity.The term barbarian was used by the ancient Greeks and Romans to refer to any foreigner. In ancient and medieval times, it was variously used to refer to non-Greeks, non-Romans, and non-Christians.The term eventually became associated with a stereotypical image of barbarians as primitive and brutish. For example, movies and comic strips often depict people they call barbarians as dressing in animal skins and carrying simple weapons, like wooden clubs.Like the word savage, the word barbarian can be very offensive due to its use to dehumanize the people that it’s applied to, especially in a way that calls attention to their otherness or the supposed primitiveness of their culture or customs.Still, barbarian is often used in an exaggerated way to refer to a person who behaves in a way considered crude or brutish. This use of the word focuses on a person’s crude behavior and is not intended to imply any sense of foreignness. It’s often intended to be lighthearted and humorous.Example: Boys, please don’t track mud through the house like a bunch of barbarians!