troglodytic

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adjective

Of or pertaining to troglodytes, or dwellers in caves.

Scrabble 18

Meanings

adjectivetroglodytic (comparative more troglodytic, superlative most troglodytic)

comparative more troglodytic · superlative most troglodytic · alternative trogloditic

  1. Of or pertaining to troglodytes, or dwellers in caves.

    Foremost of all, of course, were the sight of the fiery caves and the certainty that some troglodytic race inhabited them.

    1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC

    Synonyms: troglodytish

  2. Like or befitting a troglodyte; brutish, backwards, etc.
    2 more examples

    ‘There is something more, if I could find a name for it. God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say? or can it be the old story of Dr. Fell? or is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent? The last, I think; for O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend.’

    1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Search for Mr. Hyde”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 25–26

    You have my thanks for not closing debate in Community Voices, so that the late but thoughtful and intelligent contributions to a controversy isn't squelched. I've found this usually means clawing one's way through mounds of troglodytic gay male misogyny and an occasional off-the-wall lesbian interpretation of gay male sexuality, but it's worth it.

    1980 December 27, Ray Olson, “Spreading The Word”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 23, page 5

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveOf or pertaining to troglodytes, or dwellers in caves.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekτρωγλοδυτικός“of cave-/hole-dwellers”
  2. Latintroglodyticus
  3. Englishtroglodytic

From Latin troglodyticus, Ancient Greek τρωγλοδυτικός (trōglodutikós, “of cave-/hole-dwellers”) from τρωγλοδύτης (trōglodútēs, “cave-/hole-dweller”) from τρώγλη (trṓglē, “hole”) + δύω (dúō, “enter, go into”), equivalent to troglodyte + -ic.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

troglodytic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/troglodytic

MLA

“troglodytic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/troglodytic. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “troglodytic,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/troglodytic.

Source: troglodytic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.