Definition of 'atavistic'
adjective
of or relating to atavism
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
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)
Trends of 'atavistic'
Used Occasionally. atavistic is one of the 30000 most commonly used words in the Collins dictionary
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Definition of atavistic from the
Collins English Dictionary
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