atavistic

/,ætə'vistik/

Thân thiện

An atavistic fear of the dark kept the child awake.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral: Describes traits, behaviors, or feelings that seem to be inherited from very remote ancestors and are therefore primitive or instinctive.
   • Resembling a remote ancestor rather than immediate parents: In biology, pertaining to the reappearance of a characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The politician's speech appealed to the crowd's atavistic fears of outsiders. (The speech tapped into primitive, instinctive fears.)
  • The biologist studied the atavistic trait, a tail-like structure that appeared in the offspring. (The trait was a throwback to a distant ancestor.)

Advanced Usage

• "atavistic impulses": Refers to deep-seated, primal urges that seem to come from an earlier stage of human evolution.
  • He struggled to control his atavistic impulses toward violence.
• "atavistic memory": A concept suggesting a racial or inherited memory from ancient times.
  • The myth may tap into an atavistic memory of a great flood.

Variants and Related Words

• Atavism (noun): The recurrence of a characteristic after an absence of several generations; a throwback.
  • The appearance of webbed feet in the child was considered an atavism.
• Atavist (noun): A person or organism that exhibits atavistic characteristics.

Synonyms

• Primitive: Relating to an early or original stage.
• Throwback: A reversion to an earlier ancestral characteristic.
• Primordial: Existing at or from the beginning of time; primeval.

Antonyms

• Modern: Relating to the present or recent times.
• Advanced: Far on in progress or development.
• Evolved: Having developed over time, especially to a more advanced state.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• A throwback to...: This common phrase is conceptually similar to 'atavistic' but is used more broadly.
  • His love for vinyl records is a throwback to an earlier era. (While not biological, it indicates a reversion to past styles.)

Học thuật

Adjective

1. characteristic of an atavist

Từ đồng nghĩa

• throwback