1 [usuallybeforenoun] belonging to a very simple society with no industry, etc:
primitive tribes * primitive rituals / beliefs
2 [usuallybeforenoun] belonging to an early stage in the development of humans or animals:
primitive man
3 very simple and old-fashioned, especially when sth is also not convenient and comfortable:
The methods of communication used during the war were primitive by today's standards. * The facilities on the campsite were very primitive.
4 [usuallybeforenoun] (of a feeling or a desire) very strong and not based on reason, as if from the earliest period of human life:
a primitive instinct / desire
primitiveness noun [U]
Part of speech: noun
1 an artist of the period before the Renaissance; an example of work from this period
2 an artist who paints in a very simple style like a child; an example of the work of such an artist
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About this entry
This is a English–English dictionary entry.
Sourced from Main Dictionary in Lughet's collection.
This word also appears under other sources in Lughet's collection — see the list below.
Where does this definition of primitive come from?
This entry for primitive is sourced from Main Dictionary, one of the dictionaries and corpora merged into Lughet.
Is primitive a noun, verb, or something else?
In this entry, primitive is tagged as adjective.
Does primitive appear elsewhere on Lughet?
Yes — primitive appears under other sources or language pairs in Lughet's collection. See the list below.
What is Lughet?
Lughet is a free trilingual dictionary covering nearly five million entries across Uyghur, Chinese, and English, drawn from more than ten source dictionaries and corpora.
