Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Extremely cruel, brutal, or savage: Describes actions, people, or behavior that are shockingly harsh, violent, and lacking in any sense of mercy or civilization.
   • Primitive or uncivilized: Pertaining to customs, culture, or societies considered crude, undeveloped, or lacking the refinements of a complex civilization. This usage can be considered offensive or ethnocentric.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The invaders were accused of barbarous acts against the civilian population.
  • Many ancient texts describe tribes from beyond the empire as barbarous peoples.
  • It was a barbarous punishment that has long been outlawed.

Advanced Usage

• "barbarous cruelty": An intensifying phrase emphasizing extreme brutality.
  • The dictator was known for his barbarous cruelty.
• Used in historical or literary contexts to describe practices or eras considered uncivilized by modern or contemporary standards.
  • The chronicler wrote of the barbarous customs of the distant land.

Variants and Related Words

• Barbarously (adverb): In a barbarous manner.
  • The prisoners were treated barbarously.
• Barbarity (noun): The quality of being barbarous; a barbarous act.
  • The barbarity of the war shocked the world.
• Barbarian (noun): A member of a people considered primitive or uncivilized (often historical/pejorative); a person perceived as crude or brutal.
• Barbarism (noun): Absence of culture and civilization; an act or expression considered crude or unacceptable.

Synonyms

• Brutal: Savagely violent.
• Savage: Fierce, violent, and uncontrolled.
• Cruel: Willfully causing pain or suffering.
• Inhumane: Without compassion for misery or suffering.
• Primitive (for the cultural sense): Relating to an early stage of development.

Antonyms

• Civilized: At an advanced stage of social and cultural development.
• Humane: Having or showing compassion or benevolence.
• Gentle: Mild in temperament or behavior.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• While "barbarous" itself is not commonly used in fixed idioms, it is a strong descriptor within phrases like "barbarous treatment" or "barbarous age."

Adjective

1. primitive in customs and culture
2. (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
   • a barbarous crime
   • brutal beatings
   • cruel tortures
   • Stalin's roughshod treatment of the kulaks
   • a savage slap
   • vicious kicks