caveman
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkeɪvˌmæn/
Forms: form: cavemen
Etymology: From cave + man, based on the supposition that early humans dwelt in caves.
Senses: examples: text: The political cartoon showed the politician as a caveman, clubbing the budget depicted as a mammoth.
text: CAVEMAN DIET
The creators of this nutrition plan believe that cavemen and cavewomen were lean and healthy because of the all-natural foods they ate.
ref: 2006, Harley Pasternak, The 5 Factor Diet, page 15:
text: And who could forget those ads that featured sophisticated cavemen who were insulted—in a parody on political correctness—by “insensitive” offenders who implied that some action was “so easy, a caveman could do it.”
ref: 2010, Terence A. Shimp, Advertising, Promotion, and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications, 8th edition, Cengage Learning, page 154:
text: For, in essence, the caveman concept implies the abhorrent—undignified human bestiality and a disquieting association with apelike ancestors. Cavemen have represented Darwin′s repugnant evolutionary ideals and even suggest civilisation′s tenuousness.
ref: 2010, Allen A. Debus, Prehistoric Monsters: The Real and Imagined Creatures of the Past That We Love to Fear, page 87:
glosses: An early human or closely related species, popularly held to reside in caves.
examples: text: You think your Caveman is always chasing you for sex. Well, he is.
ref: 2008, David E. Clarke, Cinderella Meets the Caveman: Stop the Boredom in Your Marriage and Jump, page 159:
glosses: A person with backward, primitive behavior, opinions, or interests.
examples: text: The football squad was made up of cavemen who were responsible for trashing many a locker room.
text: "Bless you, he would think nothing of throwing you downstairs if you have a disagreement. He is a primitive cave-man in a lounge suit. I can see him with a club in one hand and a jagged bit of flint in the other."
ref: 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed:
glosses: A person with backward, primitive behavior, opinions, or interests.
A brutish person, one who behaves in a rough, uncivilized way.
examples: Old Sven is a bit of a caveman; he figures giving women the right to vote was a bad idea.
Pat is a real caveman when it comes to tech, and refuses to get a smartphone.
glosses: A person with backward, primitive behavior, opinions, or interests.
Someone, especially a man, who has regressive, old-fashioned attitudes, particularly with regard to women; someone opposed to change or modernity.
Synonyms: sense: early humans or related species
word: hominid
sense: early humans or related species
word: hominin
sense: early humans or related species
word: Neanderthal
sense: early humans or related species
word: troglodyte
sense: brutish or savage person
word: boor
sense: brutish or savage person
word: knuckle dragger
sense: brutish or savage person
word: lout
sense: brutish or savage person
word: Neanderthal
sense: brutish or savage person
word: savage
sense: brutish or savage person
word: thug
sense: brutish or savage person
word: troglodyte
sense: person with regressive opinions
word: male chauvinist
sense: person with regressive opinions
word: Neanderthal
Hypernyms: cave dweller
Coordinate terms: cavewoman
Derived terms: cavemanlike
cavemannish
cavemanny
caveman stage