primitive man
Stone Age dweller
Primitive man refers to early humans or human ancestors, especially those from prehistoric periods before agriculture and written records.
The term carries an outdated evolutionary assumption—that modern humans represent advancement while earlier peoples were less developed.
Anthropologists now avoid it, preferring terms like early humans or specific designations: Neanderthals, Homo erectus.
In casual use, primitive man evokes stereotypical cave-dwelling ancestors: Primitive man discovered fire.
- cavemanPrehistoric cave-dwelling human
- early humansAncient ancestral primates
- human evolutionOur species' biological origin
- hunter-gathererPre-farming subsistence lifestyle
- hunting partyPeople seeking game together
stone · flint · spear · fire · tribe · cave · cave painting · prehistoric · ice age · bones · mammoth · animal skins · survival · tools · nomad · dwelling · raw · instinct
- prehistoric humanscaveman, cave dwellers, cave dweller, Neanderthal, Neanderthals
- Early HumansNeanderthal, Cro-Magnon, Homo erectus, Homo sapiens, Australopithecus
- wild mensasquatch, yeti, wildling, wild child, feral child
primitive manurbanite
Metropolitan resident
city dweller · Renaissance man · cosmopolitan · citizen · intellectual
primitive, primitively, primitiveness, primitivism, primitivist, prime, primal, primary, primarily