- 1[usually before noun] belonging to a very simple society with no industry, etc. primitive tribes primitive beliefs
- 2[usually before noun] belonging to an early stage in the development of humans or animals primitive man
- 3very simple and old-fashioned, especially when something is also not convenient and comfortable synonym crude The methods of communication used during the war were primitive by today's standards. The facilities on the campsite were very primitive.
- 4[usually before noun] (of a feeling or a desire) very strong and not based on reason, as if from the earliest period of human life a primitive instinct
adverb
noun [uncountable]See primitive in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
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