Definition of 'atavistic'

Word Frequency

atavistic

(ætəvɪstɪk )

adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]

Atavistic feelings or behaviour seem to be very primitive, like the feelings or behaviour of our earliest ancestors.

[formal]

...an atavistic fear of snakes.

Word Frequency

atavistic in British

(ˌætəˈvɪstɪk )

adjective

of or relating to atavism

Derived forms

atavistically (ˌataˈvistically)

adverb

Example sentences containing 'atavistic'

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There is something atavistic about football. Times, Sunday Times (2006)She shows how hunting in its broadest sense was endemic across the social divides and reaches to an atavistic instinct in our kind. Times, Sunday Times (2008)But also, there is something pleasingly atavistic about looking at wildlife through the naked eye. Times, Sunday Times (2008)Sport deals in atavistic fear, a commodity that is otherwise hard to come by in the 21st century. Times, Sunday Times (2007)In this moderation he has the atavistic sense of the responsibility of what used to be known as'a public services broadcaster '. Times, Sunday Times (2009)Only education, and the rational acceptance that society has to be inclusive to survive, is there to counteract our atavistic instincts. Times, Sunday Times (2007)