Neanderthal

noun

Ne·​an·​der·​thal nē-ˈan-dər-ˌtȯl How to pronounce Neanderthal (audio) -ˌthȯl How to pronounce Neanderthal (audio)
nā-ˈän-dər-ˌtäl
plural Neanderthals
1
or less commonly Neandertal
nē-ˈan-dər-ˌtȯl How to pronounce Neanderthal (audio)
nā-ˈän-dər-ˌtäl
or Neanderthal man or Neandertal man plural Neandertals or Neanderthal men or Neandertal men : a hominid (Homo neanderthalensis synonym H. sapiens neanderthalensis) known from skeletal remains in Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia that lived from about 30,000 to 200,000 years ago
2
: a person who suggests a caveman in appearance, mentality, or behavior
… heckled by a bunch of NeanderthalsBonitta Best
But the man is also not a Neanderthal. His mother was an English teacher, and her son quotes Henry David Thoreau …Seth Emerson
Neanderthal adjective
or less commonly Neandertal
Neanderthaloid
nē-ˈan-dər-ˌtȯ-ˌlȯid
-ˌthȯ- How to pronounce Neanderthal (audio)
nā-ˈän-dər-ˌtä-
adjective or noun

Examples of Neanderthal in a Sentence

I can't believe I was married to that Neanderthal for three years. Some Neanderthals continue to resist the education reform bill.
Recent Examples on the Web In addition to hunting cave lions, creating art, cooking crabs, and potentially being the ultimate morning people, Neanderthals in what is now Europe also used their own kind of glue. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 21 Feb. 2024 Schmidt said that Neanderthals were already known to have made an adhesive from birch tar, which involved several steps to produce from tree bark by distillation. Katie Hunt, CNN, 21 Feb. 2024 John Hawks, a University of Wisconsin-Madison paleoanthropologist who studies ancient human relatives but was not involved in this research, said the study helps solidify the theory that patches of different human cultures were developing as Neanderthals neared their end. Evan Bush, NBC News, 31 Jan. 2024 Modern humans had already settled in northwest Europe thousands of years before Neanderthals vanished forever in the southwest of the continent, according to the results of a recent excavation in Ranis, Germany. Catherine Duncan, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024 The discovery means the two groups, who once interbred and left most humans alive today with traces of Neanderthal DNA, may have overlapped for several thousand years. Katie Hunt, CNN, 1 Feb. 2024 But more recently, genetic analysis has revealed that even modern humans, whose ancestors migrated out of Africa, have up to 4 percent Neanderthal DNA. Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 1 Feb. 2024 The evidence also adds to the suspicion that the movement of modern humans into Europe and Asia about 50,000 years ago helped drive Neanderthals into extinction. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 31 Jan. 2024 In some cases, Neanderthals could be as much as half a foot shorter than Cro-Magnons. Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 28 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Neanderthal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Neanderthal, valley in western Germany

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of Neanderthal was in 1874

Dictionary Entries Near Neanderthal

Cite this Entry

“Neanderthal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Neanderthal. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

Neanderthal

noun
Ne·​an·​der·​thal nē-ˈan-dər-ˌthȯl How to pronounce Neanderthal (audio) -ˌtȯl How to pronounce Neanderthal (audio)
nā-ˈän-dər-ˌtäl
1
or Neandertal
-ˌtȯl How to pronounce Neanderthal (audio)
-ˌtäl
: a primate mammal that belongs to the same family as human beings, lived from about 30,000 to 200,000 years ago, is known from skeletal remains in Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, and is characterized especially by a stocky muscular build and prominent browridge

called also Neanderthal man

2
: one who suggests a caveman in appearance, behavior, or intelligence
Neanderthal adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on Neanderthal

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