Standard Lemma guide

barbaric

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /bɑː(ɹ)ˈbæɹɪk/
  • /bɑː(ɹ)ˈbɛɹɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: B AA0 R B AE1 R IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: B AA0 R B EH1 R IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

of or relating to a barbarian; uncivilized, uncultured or uncouth

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • a barbaric attack on a doctor in a hospital

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: barbarious, barbarous, heathen, animalistic, barbarian, barbaric, brutal, brutish, Gothic, Gothlike, grim, heathenish, heathenly, heathenous, incivil, pagan, savage, tenebrose, truculent, uncivil, uncivilized, uncouth, uncultivated, uncultured, uplandish, wolfish

Antonyms: nonbarbaric

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

without civilizing influences-Margaret Meade

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • barbarian invaders
  • barbaric practices
  • a savage people
  • fighting is crude and uncivilized especially if the weapons are efficient
  • wild tribes

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: barbarian, savage, uncivilized, uncivilised, wild

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

unrestrained and crudely rich

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • barbaric use of color or ornament

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English barbarik, from Old French barbarique (“barbarous”), from Latin barbaricus, from Ancient Greek βαρβαρικός (barbarikós, “barbaric, savage, fierce”), from βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “barbarian”) + -ικός (-ikós, adjective suffix). See βάρβαρος (bárbaros) for more.

Across languages

Translations

79 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: i barbar — uncivilised
  • Albanian: i paqytetëruar — uncivilised
  • Arabic: هَمَجِيّ (hamajiyy) — uncivilised
  • Arabic: مُتَوَحِّش (mutawaḥḥiš) — uncivilised
  • Armenian: բարբարոսական (barbarosakan) — uncivilised
  • Azerbaijani: barbar — uncivilised
  • Azerbaijani: vəhşi — uncivilised
  • Belarusian: ва́рварскі (várvarski) — uncivilised
  • Belarusian: ба́рбарскі (bárbarski) — uncivilised
  • Belarusian: барбары́нскі (barbarýnski) — uncivilised
  • Belarusian: дзі́кі (dzíki) — uncivilised
  • Belarusian: дзіку́нскі (dzikúnski) — uncivilised
  • Bulgarian: ва́рварски (várvarski) — uncivilised
  • Bulgarian: див (div) — uncivilised
  • Chinese Mandarin: 野蠻 /野蛮 (yěmán) — uncivilised
  • Chinese Mandarin: 殘暴 /残暴 (cánbào) — uncivilised
  • Chinese Mandarin: 粗野 (cūyě) — uncivilised
  • Czech: barbarský — uncivilised
  • Danish: barbarisk — uncivilised
  • Dutch: barbaars — uncivilised
  • Esperanto: barbara — uncivilised
  • Estonian: barbaarne — uncivilised
  • Finnish: raakalaismainen — uncivilised
  • Finnish: barbaarinen — uncivilised
  • French: barbare — uncivilised
  • Galician: bárbaro — uncivilised
  • Georgian: ბარბაროსული (barbarosuli) — uncivilised
  • German: barbarisch — uncivilised
  • Greek: βάρβαρος (várvaros) — uncivilised
  • Greek: βαρβαρικός (varvarikós) — uncivilised
  • Ancient Greek: βαρβαρικός (barbarikós) — uncivilised
  • Hebrew: בַּרְבָּרִי (barbári) — uncivilised
  • Hindi: बर्बर (barbar) — uncivilised
  • Hungarian: barbár — uncivilised
  • Irish: barbartha — uncivilised
  • Irish: danartha — uncivilised
  • Irish: ainchríostúil — uncivilised
  • Italian: barbarico — uncivilised
  • Italian: barbaro — uncivilised
  • Japanese: 野蛮な (yaban na) — uncivilised
  • Kazakh: варвар (varvar) — uncivilised
  • Kazakh: варварлық (varvarlyq) — uncivilised
  • Korean: 야만(野蠻)의 (yaman-ui) — uncivilised
  • Kyrgyz: варвар (varvar) — uncivilised
  • Latvian: barbarisks — uncivilised
  • Lithuanian: barbariškas — uncivilised
  • Macedonian: варварски (varvarski) — uncivilised
  • Malayalam: പ്രാകൃത (prākr̥ta) — uncivilised
  • Malayalam: കിരാത (kirāta) — uncivilised
  • Māori: moho(w)ao — uncivilised
  • Norwegian Bokmål: barbarisk — uncivilised
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: barbarisk — uncivilised
  • Persian: وحشیانه (vahšiyâne) — uncivilised
  • Persian: وحشی (vahši) — uncivilised
  • Persian: بربری (barbari) — uncivilised
  • Polish: barbarzyński — uncivilised
  • Portuguese: bárbaro — uncivilised
  • Romanian: barbar — uncivilised
  • Russian: ва́рварский (várvarskij) — uncivilised
  • Russian: ди́кий (díkij) — uncivilised
  • Sanskrit: बर्बर (barbara) — uncivilised
  • Serbo-Croatian: ба̀рбарскӣ — uncivilised
  • Serbo-Croatian: ва̀рварскӣ — uncivilised
  • Serbo-Croatian: bàrbarskī — uncivilised
  • Serbo-Croatian: vàrvarskī — uncivilised
  • Slovak: barbarský — uncivilised
  • Slovene: barbarski — uncivilised
  • Spanish: barbárico — uncivilised
  • Swedish: barbarisk — uncivilised
  • Tajik: ваҳшиёна (vahšiyona) — uncivilised
  • Tajik: ваҳшӣ (vahši) — uncivilised
  • Tajik: барбарӣ (barbari) — uncivilised
  • Turkish: barbar — uncivilised
  • Ukrainian: ва́рварський (várvarsʹkyj) — uncivilised
  • Ukrainian: ди́кий (dýkyj) — uncivilised
  • Ukrainian: дику́нський (dykúnsʹkyj) — uncivilised
  • Uzbek: vahshiyona — uncivilised
  • Uzbek: vahshiy — uncivilised
  • Vietnamese: dã man — uncivilised