Meanings
comparative more barbaric · superlative most barbaric
- of or relating to a barbarian; uncivilized, uncultured or uncouth
a barbaric attack on a doctor in a hospital
Synonyms: barbarious, barbarous, heathen, animalistic, barbarian, barbarious, barbarous, brutal · Antonyms: nonbarbaric
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveof or relating to a barbarian; uncivilized, uncultured or uncouth
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivewithout civilizing influences
adjectiveunrestrained and crudely rich
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekβαρβαρικός“barbaric, savage, fierce”
- Latinbarbaricus
- Old Frenchbarbarique“barbarous”
- Middle Englishbarbarik
- Englishbarbaric
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.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βαρβαρικός
- βαρβαρικός (barbarikós)uncivilised
Arabic هَمَجِيّ, مُتَوَحِّش
- هَمَجِيّ (hamajiyy)uncivilised
- مُتَوَحِّش (mutawaḥḥiš)uncivilised
Bulgarian ва́рварски, див
- ва́рварски (várvarski)uncivilised
- див (div)uncivilised
Chinese Mandarin 野蠻 /野蛮, 殘暴 /残暴
- 野蠻 /野蛮 (yěmán)uncivilised
- 殘暴 /残暴 (cánbào)uncivilised
- 粗野 (cūyě)uncivilised
Czech barbarský
- barbarskýuncivilised
Danish barbarisk
- barbariskuncivilised
Dutch barbaars
- barbaarsuncivilised
Esperanto barbara
- barbarauncivilised
Estonian barbaarne
- barbaarneuncivilised
Finnish raakalaismainen, barbaarinen
- raakalaismainenuncivilised
- barbaarinenuncivilised
French barbare
- barbareuncivilised
German barbarisch
- barbarischuncivilised
Greek βάρβαρος, βαρβαρικός
- βάρβαρος (várvaros)uncivilised
- βαρβαρικός (varvarikós)uncivilised
Hebrew בַּרְבָּרִי
- בַּרְבָּרִי (barbári)uncivilised
Hindi बर्बर
- बर्बर (barbar)uncivilised
Hungarian barbár
- barbáruncivilised
Irish barbartha, danartha
- barbarthauncivilised
- danarthauncivilised
- ainchríostúiluncivilised
Italian barbarico, barbaro
- barbaricouncivilised
- barbarouncivilised
Japanese 野蛮な
- 野蛮な (yaban na)uncivilised
Korean 야만(野蠻)의
- 야만(野蠻)의 (yaman-ui)uncivilised
Latvian barbarisks
- barbarisksuncivilised
Lithuanian barbariškas
- barbariškasuncivilised
Māori moho(w)ao
- moho(w)aouncivilised
Norwegian Bokmål barbarisk
- barbariskuncivilised
Persian وحشیانه, وحشی
- وحشیانه (vahšiyâne)uncivilised
- وحشی (vahši)uncivilised
- بربری (barbari)uncivilised
Polish barbarzyński
- barbarzyńskiuncivilised
Portuguese bárbaro
- bárbarouncivilised
Romanian barbar
- barbaruncivilised
Russian ва́рварский, ди́кий
- ва́рварский (várvarskij)uncivilised
- ди́кий (díkij)uncivilised
Slovak barbarský
- barbarskýuncivilised
Spanish barbárico
- barbáricouncivilised
Swedish barbarisk
- barbariskuncivilised
Turkish barbar
- barbaruncivilised
Ukrainian ва́рварський, ди́кий
- ва́рварський (várvarsʹkyj)uncivilised
- ди́кий (dýkyj)uncivilised
- дику́нський (dykúnsʹkyj)uncivilised
Vietnamese dã man
- dã manuncivilised
Cite this entry
barbaric. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barbaric
“barbaric.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barbaric. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “barbaric,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barbaric.
Source: barbaric on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.