primitive
part of speech
adjective (more primitive, most primitive); noun (a primitive, primitives — rare)
meaning for a pupil
1) Very simple and basic, not advanced: «a primitive tool made of stone». tree →
2) Belonging to an early stage of development, long ago: «primitive life forms». tree →
3) (art) A painter or style that is simple and untrained-looking on purpose or by nature. tree →
4) (old, now hurtful) Once used about peoples or cultures thought to be «less advanced»; today this is seen as unfair and rude. tree →
sense in the lessons
In history and science lessons it describes early tools, cells or animals; in everyday life it means basic: «The campsite toilets were primitive.» In computing a «primitive» is a basic building block. Phrases: «primitive tools», «primitive life», «primitive conditions».
examples
- Early humans made primitive tools from flint. tree →
- Bacteria are among the most primitive living things. tree →
- The hut was primitive, with no water or electricity. tree →
- His first robot was primitive but it could move forward. tree →
- Primitive fish had no jaws. tree →
- We camped in primitive conditions on the island. tree →
- Calling another people «primitive» is unfair; their ways are just different. tree →
- They were at last blown on shore, for navigation was primitive in those days. tree →
note
Adverb: primitively. Be careful: using «primitive» about real living peoples or cultures is old-fashioned and hurtful. In science «primitive» means early or simple in form, not «worse».
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «primitive» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.