Neanderthal

[ nee-an-der-thawl, -tawl, -tahl; ney-ahn-der-tahl ]

adjective

1. of or relating to Neanderthal man.
2. (often lowercase) Informal. primitive, unenlightened, or reactionary; culturally or intellectually backward.

noun

1. Neanderthal man.
2. (often lowercase) Informal.
   1. an unenlightened or ignorant person; barbarian.
   2. a reactionary; a person with very old-fashioned ideas.

Neanderthal

/ nɪˈændəˌtɑːl /

adjective

1. relating to or characteristic of Neanderthal man
2. primitive; uncivilized
3. informal.
   ultraconservative; reactionary

noun

1. a person showing any such characteristics

Neanderthal

/ nē-ăn′dər-thôl′,-tôl′ /

1. An extinct variety of human that lived throughout Europe and in parts of western Asia and northern Africa during the late Pleistocene Epoch, until about 30,000 years ago. Neanderthals had a stocky build and large skulls with thick eyebrow ridges and big teeth. They usually lived in caves, made flaked stone tools, and were the earliest humans known to bury their dead. Neanderthals were either a subspecies of modern humans ( Homo sapiens neanderthalensis ) or a separate, closely related species ( Homo neanderthalensis ). They coexisted with early modern humans (Cro-Magnons) for several thousand years before becoming extinct, but are not generally believed to have interbred with them.
2. See also Mousterian

Neanderthal

1. The ancient and now extinct relatives of modern humans. Neanderthals lived in Europe about 150,000 years ago and were the earliest form of the human species , Homo sapiens.

Notes

The term Neanderthal is sometimes used to refer to a person who is thought to have primitive or unenlightened ideas: “I tried talking politics to Joe, but he's a real Neanderthal.”

Other Words From

• Ne·ander·thaler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Neanderthal¹

First recorded in 1860–65; after Neanderthal, valley in Germany, near Düsseldorf, where evidence of Neanderthal man was first found

Example Sentences

The last thing, the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking — that, 'In the meantime, everything’s fine.

From Washington Post

All these months later, the apparent changes in how this organization operates mean Washington, of all franchises — Neanderthal for so long on so many fronts — is actually now a leader.

From Washington Post

He did some of the first studies of Neanderthal bones, and founded Germany’s first anthropological society and journal.

From Nautilus

That changed when in 2010 the first nuclear genome revealed that, rather than their being distant cousins we’d shoved aside by 40,000 years ago, ancient interbreeding had left a genetic Neanderthal legacy in most living people.

From Time

Comparison of Modern Human and Neanderthal skulls from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

From Ars Technica

Early on, the sexual protagonist complains that her Molson-drinking husband is pretty much an incompetent Neanderthal.

From The Daily Beast

If you think of yourself as more than a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal, you can stand up and be respectful.

From The Daily Beast

“He was no Neanderthal,” says former U.S. senator Richard Bryan.

From The Daily Beast

Scientists extract complete Neanderthal genome from fossil—97 percent match to A&E programming.

From The Daily Beast

There have been many posts lately about countries with maternity/paternity leave, it's depressing how Neanderthal America seems.

From The Daily Beast

Early the next morning a little band of Neanderthal men descended the escarpment and set out toward the rising sun.

From Project Gutenberg

Silently each Neanderthal man stepped behind a trunk of one of the trees lining the path.

From Project Gutenberg

Neanderthal man had a very large head with heavy, overhanging eyebrows meeting above the nose, and a markedly retreating forehead.

From Project Gutenberg

One hundred thousand years of human life in Europe produced nothing higher than Neanderthal man.

From Project Gutenberg

And we are not so far from that ancestor as to have eliminated not indeed Neanderthal, but Neanderthaloid types.

From Project Gutenberg