Definitions
Wiktionary
- adj. Primitive, old-fashioned, opposed to change (in allusion to the now extinct species Homo neanderthalensis).
- n. pejorative A primitive person or a person with old-fashioned ideas or who opposes change.
- n. A specimen of the now extinct species Homo neanderthalensis.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. uncouth in manners or appearance.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. ill-mannered and coarse and contemptible in behavior or appearance
- adj. relating to or belonging to or resembling Neanderthal man
- n. extinct robust human of Middle Paleolithic in Europe and western Asia
Etymologies
- From the name of the German valley where Neanderthal 1 was discovered in 1856. The Düsseltal (from German Düssel, a small tributary of the River Rhine + tal ("valley")) itself was renamed (from Das Gesteins ("The Rockiness") and/or Das Hundsklipp ("The Cliff of Dogs")) in the early 19th century to Neandershöhle ("Neander’s Hollow"), and again in 1850 to Neanderthal ("Neander Valley"); both names were in honour of the German Calvinist theologian and hymn writer Joachim Neander (1650–1680). The surname Neander is a Romanisation of the Greek translation of the original German surname Neumann ("New man"), for which reason Homo neanderthalensis is sometimes called New man in English. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“| Reply | Permalink yes, jimmy raised billy, made him a drunk. and i don't recall the neanderthal ravings of hugh rodham. enlighten me.”
“I have had back and fort over rail projects with supporters for years, and I am always particularly amazed at how supporters treat me like some kind of neanderthal (e.g. “the debate is over!” and “rail is settled policy.”) I finally figured out the other day how to characterize rail supporters arguments.”
“My only criticism with this particular speech has nothing to do with the "neanderthal" comment but, rather, with her clumsy use of metaphor ...”
“Oh, and I looked it up, both "neanderthal" and "neandertal" are acceptable pronunciations and variant spellings.”
The Huffington Post: Tallulah Morehead: Big Brother 12: The Sorrows of Boobiac.
“Our brains seem to have the capacity for both civilized and "neanderthal" behavior.”
“If I think a few men carefully distinguished from the vast majority of prospective fathers are in a problematic situation, how is that to be taken as some kind of neanderthal declaration that men are good and women are bad?”
When it comes to reproduction, men and women really ARE different
“This results in some kind of neanderthal tribal chant among the Japanese geeks, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, see this video for reference.”
“All he needs is the a more pronounced neanderthal brow.”
“The sheer stupidity and ignorance of these knuckle dragging neanderthal conservatives is simply astonishing.”
“What if they gave the wrong address and some gun toting idiot neanderthal coward decides to take matters into his own hands and harms someone in the case of mistaken identity.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘neanderthal’.
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
bumwank, calamity, recalcitrant, gayenese, jeeze, nonsense, flabbergasted, juxtapose, procrastinating, ossanity, biffing, loser and 1972 more... -
Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
grabbable, retuiteando, leaving, fantastic, absolutely, kurwa, hella, ridic, underpass, hate, interlude, plush and 2369 more... -
Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder
Being a list of words and phrases from Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology, by Lawrence Weschler.
wonder, spore, Madalena Delani, ant, rampant, obliscence, Korsakov's syndrome, memory, illusion, time, Cone of Obliscence, Plane of Experience and 95 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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Fun Words
Words that have funny meanings or are just fun to say.
kumquat, chimichanga, sarsparilla, rutabaga, rumpus, flummox, encrusted, prestidigitation, pomegranate, preposterous, dentiloquist, sepulchre and 323 more...
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Loxodont's list
circumambulate, atelectasis, paramount, therefore, apotropaic, facture, identity, dome, lecture, cannibal, catatonia, rite and 119 more...
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words from the German
kindergarten, sturm und drang, schadenfreude, zeppelin, blitzkreig, blitz, krieg, panzer, angst, nazi, zeitgeist, doppelganger and 107 more...
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chrono's Words
zany, yank, xenophobia, wanker, valedictorian, ubiquitous, topology, serendipity, renaissance, quorum, paradox, oxymoron and 14 more...
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Big Book of Words
hone, jibe, limn, tome, intrepid, augur, caveat, encomium, ephemera, factotum, gravitas, impediment and 83 more...
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simple & useful12
semi-erect, extrusive, volitionally, semicircularity, rotatable, stratagems, superstrate, cyclicity, inelasticity, chomped, unassailable, incontestable and 73 more...
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anthropology
Tweets
Looking for tweets for neanderthal.

shirlcintx From 1674-1679, Joachim Neander was a school principal and preacher in a valley near Dusseldof, Germany, which had numerous caves, grottos and waterfalls. He wrote many church hymns there, and in the 19th century, the entire valley was called the Neander Valley (in German, Neanderthal). Thus Joachim Neander the distinction of being the only hymnist with a fossil homind named after him, "The Neanderthal Man!" Jun 26, 2009