barbarous

CEFRC2

/ˈbɑː(ɹ)bəɹəs/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Extremely cruel and lacking civilized behavior.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Mercilessly or impudently violent or cruel, savage.

Examples

  • In revenge and in love woman is more barbarous than man is.

  • The slaughter of the prisoners was a barbarous act.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Uncivilized, uncultured.

  2. Not classical or pure.

  3. Like a barbarian, especially in sound; noisy, dissonant.

More examples

In context

  • There are still barbarous nations.

  • The original Turkish tongue was somewhat barbarous, but extremely forcible and concise when spoken.

  • He, that would write exactly, muſt avoid a Barbarous Pronunciation, and conſider for facility, or thorow miſtake, many words are not ſounded after the beſt dialect. Such as […] Wun, one.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The villagers were shocked by the blank treatment of prisoners.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

Late Middle English, from Latin barbarus (“foreigner, savage”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign, strange”).