Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun primitive

3 senses of primitive

Sense 1
primitive, primitive person -- (a person who belongs to an early stage of civilization)
       => person, individual, someone, somebody, mortal, soul -- (a human being; "there was too much for one person to do")

Sense 2
primitive -- (a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived)
       => formula, expression -- (a group of symbols that make a mathematical statement)

Sense 3
primitive -- (a word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms; "`pick' is the primitive from which `picket' is derived")
       => word -- (a unit of language that native speakers can identify; "words are the blocks from which sentences are made"; "he hardly said ten words all morning")

Antonyms of adj primitive

4 senses of primitive

Sense 1
crude, primitive, rude -- (belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness; "the crude weapons and rude agricultural implements of early man"; "primitive movies of the 1890s"; "primitive living conditions in the Appalachian mountains")

INDIRECT (VIA early) -> late, later -- (at or toward an end or late period or stage of development; "the late phase of feudalism"; "a later symptom of the disease"; "later medical science could have saved the child")

Sense 2
archaic, primitive -- (little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type; "archaic forms of life"; "primitive mammals"; "the okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe")

INDIRECT (VIA early) -> late, later -- (at or toward an end or late period or stage of development; "the late phase of feudalism"; "a later symptom of the disease"; "later medical science could have saved the child")

Sense 3
primitive -- (used of preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial societies; "primitive societies")

INDIRECT (VIA noncivilized) -> civilized, civilised -- (having a high state of culture and development both social and technological; "terrorist acts that shocked the civilized world")

Sense 4
primitive, naive -- (of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style; "primitive art such as that by Grandma Moses is often colorful and striking")

INDIRECT (VIA untrained) -> trained -- (shaped or conditioned or disciplined by training; often used as a combining form; "a trained mind"; "trained pigeons"; "well-trained servants")

Similarity of adj primitive

4 senses of primitive

Sense 1
crude, primitive, rude -- (belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness; "the crude weapons and rude agricultural implements of early man"; "primitive movies of the 1890s"; "primitive living conditions in the Appalachian mountains")
       => early (vs. late) -- (being or occurring at an early stage of development; "in an early stage"; "early forms of life"; "early man"; "an early computer")

Sense 2
archaic, primitive -- (little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type; "archaic forms of life"; "primitive mammals"; "the okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe")
       => early (vs. late) -- (being or occurring at an early stage of development; "in an early stage"; "early forms of life"; "early man"; "an early computer")

Sense 3
primitive -- (used of preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial societies; "primitive societies")
       => noncivilized (vs. civilized), noncivilised -- (not having a high state of culture and social development)

Sense 4
primitive, naive -- (of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style; "primitive art such as that by Grandma Moses is often colorful and striking")
       => untrained (vs. trained) -- (not disciplined or conditioned or made adept by training; "an untrained voice"; "untrained troops"; "young minds untrained in the habit of concentration")