troglodyte

Primitive cave inhabitant

A troglodyte is a cave dweller—someone who lives in a cave or underground dwelling.

The word appears in historical and anthropological contexts describing ancient peoples who inhabited caves.

More commonly now, troglodyte is an insult for someone perceived as primitive, brutish, or deliberately ignorant: Don't be such a troglodyte—learn to use a computer.

The term suggests willful resistance to modern life or social progress.

recluse

hermit

Person choosing total seclusion

solitaryExisting alone, apart
anchoriteReligious recluse in enclosure
asceticOne who renounces indulgence

eremite · loner · secluded · isolation · withdrawn · solitude · shut-in · hermitage · reclusive · monastic

insult

backward

Toward what's behind

ignorantLacking knowledge or awareness
bruteCruel, violent person
oafStupid clumsy person

knuckle-dragger · Neanderthal · boor · lout · yokel · philistine · simpleton · barbarian · uncouth · uncivilized

caveman

Neanderthal

Extinct archaic human species

PaleolithicEarliest archaeological era
hunter-gathererPre-farming subsistence lifestyle
flint toolsKnapped stone implements

mammoth · spear · tribe · nomad · forager · fire · shaman · petroglyphs · animal skins · ancestors

primitive

barbarian

Uncivilized, crude person

savageFierce and untamed
uncivilizedLacking social graces
ancestralOf one's forebears

archaic · primal · rudimentary · crude · untamed · feral · brutish · tribal · totemic · preliterate

prehistoric

Paleolithic

Earliest archaeological era

NeanderthalExtinct archaic human species
fossilPreserved ancient organism
archaeologyStudy of physical remnants

anthropology · extinct · megafauna · mastodon · paleontology · stone tools · flintknapping · ice age · Australopithecus · Pleistocene

troglodyte

hermit

backward

Neanderthal

barbarian

Paleolithic

troglodyte

Opposites

Categories

Family