semicivilized
Not fully refined
Semicivilized describes a society or people considered only partially advanced according to some standard of civilization—having developed some institutions or refinements but lacking others.
The term carries colonial-era assumptions about cultural hierarchies and is now considered condescending or offensive: Victorian explorers described the tribes as semicivilized.
Also spelled semi-civilized.
Edge of settlement
- outpostRemote military station
- settlementResolved dispute or colony
- conquestDefeating and seizing control
- subjugationForcing into submission
missionary · conversion · pacification · territory · empire · dominion · exploitation · imperialism
In earliest form
- tribalOf a clan
- savageFierce and untamed
- barbaricSavagely cruel, uncivilized
- heathenIrreligious nonbeliever
pagan · indigenous · native · customs · rituals · folkways · mores · kinship
Adopting another group's customs
- modernizationAdoption of current methods
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- progressMovement toward improvement
- emergingComing into view
advancement · uplift · transformation · westernization · industrialization · urbanization · education · literacy
frontier
Edge of settlement
- outpostRemote military station
- settlementResolved dispute or colony
- conquestDefeating and seizing control
subjugation · missionary · conversion · pacification · territory · empire · dominion · exploitation · imperialism · protectorate
primitive
In earliest form
heathen · pagan · indigenous · native · customs · rituals · folkways · mores · kinship · clan
acculturation
Adopting another group's customs
- modernizationAdoption of current methods
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- progressMovement toward improvement
emerging · advancement · uplift · transformation · westernization · industrialization · urbanization · education · literacy · infrastructure
semicivilizedcivilized
Socially developed and refined
uncivilized · savage · barbaric · barbarous · wild
semicivilizedsophisticated
Worldly and cultured
urbane · refined · polished · cultivated · cosmopolitan
civilized, civilization, uncivilized, civility, civilize, incivility, civilizing, civilised, civilities