Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adjective
- uncivilized; wild; savage; crude.
- savagely cruel or harsh: The prisoners of war were given barbarous treatment.
- full of harsh sounds; noisy; discordant: an evening of wild and barbarous music.
- not conforming to classical standards or accepted usage, as language.
- foreign; alien.
- (among ancient Greeks) designating a person or thing of non-Greek origin.
adjective
- uncivilized; primitive
- brutal or cruel
- lacking refinement
c.1400, “uncivilized, uncultured, ignorant,” from Latin barbarus, from Greek barbaros (see barbarian). Meaning “not Greek or Latin” (of words or language) is from c.1500; that of “savagely cruel” is from 1580s.