barbarous Hear it!

barbarous definition

bar·ba·rous (bär′bə rəs)

adjective

  1. Obsolete foreign or alien; in the ancient world, non-Greek, non-Roman, or non-Christian
  2. characterized by substandard usages in speaking or writing
  3. characteristic of barbarians; primitive or lacking in civilization
  4. uncultured, crude, coarse, rough, etc.
  5. cruel; brutal
  6. harsh in sound; raucous

Etymology: L barbarus < Gr barbaros, foreign, strange, ignorant < IE echoic base *barbar-, used for unintelligible speech of foreigners > Sans barbara-, stammering, non-Aryan

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

barbarous Synonyms

barbarous

modif.

  1. Characterized by cruelty

    cruel, inhuman, brutal, fierce; see cruel 1.

  2. Uncivilized

    barbaric, rude, unsophisticated; see barbarian 1, primitive 3. See syn. study at barbarian.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

barbarous Usage Examples

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • say: Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.

Modifies a noun

  • nation: For even in Africa we know of many barbarous nations using only one language.

Modifying Another Word

  • so: He could not allow himself to think that a general could be so barbarous.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: Latin art seldom became barbarous, and in its best products it comes quite up to the level of Greek technical execution.
barbarous usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

barbarous quotes

I am sure that the immediate abolition of the slave trade is the first, the principal, the most indispensable act of policy, of dutyand of justice the legislature of this country has to take, if it is indeed their wish to secure those important objects† For we continue to this hour a barbarous traffic in slaves, we continue it even yet, in spite of all our great and undeniable pretensions as civilisation.

-Pitt,William known as  theYounger

Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit.

-Sandys, George

This barbarous feeling of nationality†has become the curse of Europe.

-Senghor, Le¤  opold Se¤  dar

barbarous quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"barbarous." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/barbarous>

APA Style

barbarous. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/barbarous

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