atavists
Ancestral trait bearers
Atavists are people or things that exhibit atavism—the reappearance of traits from remote ancestors that had disappeared in intervening generations.
In biology, an atavist might display a physical feature absent for many generations.
More commonly, the term is used figuratively for people whose beliefs or behaviors seem to belong to an earlier, often more primitive era: The senator dismissed his opponents as atavists clinging to outdated ideas.
Return to ancestral type
- reversionReturn to former state
- heredityGenetic trait transmission
- geneticsScience of hereditary transmission
- phenotypeObservable characteristics of organism
genotype · recessive · phylogeny · ontogeny · vestigial · homologous · regression · mutation
Reverting to former sins
- reversionReturn to former state
- retrogressionMovement to earlier state
- relapseReturn to former illness
- degenerationProgressive loss of function
decline · throwback · retrograde · devolution · reversal · recurrence · primitivist · reactionary
In earliest form
- primalFirst in origin
- archaicBelonging to earlier times
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
- paleolithicEarliest tool-making period
neolithic · protohuman · savage · barbaric · tribal · aboriginal · primeval · ancient
throwback
Return to ancestral type
- reversionReturn to former state
- heredityGenetic trait transmission
- geneticsScience of hereditary transmission
phenotype · genotype · recessive · phylogeny · ontogeny · vestigial · homologous · regression · mutation · inheritance
backsliding
Reverting to former sins
- reversionReturn to former state
- retrogressionMovement to earlier state
- relapseReturn to former illness
degeneration · decline · throwback · retrograde · devolution · reversal · recurrence · primitivist · reactionary · traditionalist
primitive
In earliest form
- primalFirst in origin
- archaicBelonging to earlier times
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
paleolithic · neolithic · protohuman · savage · barbaric · tribal · aboriginal · primeval · ancient · rudimentary
forebears
Ancestral family members
- progenitorsOriginal ancestors of a lineage
- ancestorsThose from whom one descends
- lineageDescent from progenitors
forefathers · bloodline · heritage · genealogy · descent · pedigree · clan · tribe · kinfolk · predecessors
atavistsfuturists
Predictors of coming developments
modernists · progressives · innovators · reformers · forward-thinkers
atavistsiconoclasts
Attackers of cherished beliefs
radicals · nonconformists · mavericks · disruptors · experimentalists