adj. 1
Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first.
primitive innocence; the primitive church
adj. 2
Of or pertaining to or harking back to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity.
a primitive style of dress
adj. 3
Crude, obsolete.
n. 1
An original or primary word; a word not derived from another, as opposed to derivative.

Related words

Word family: primitively primitiveness primitivism primitivity
Phrases: primitive root primitive colour primitive concept primitive element primitive notion primitive wrapper class

Forms

Plural: primitives → radixes, antiderivatives…

Choose the right word

or Primitive?

Primitive frequently signifies having the original characteristics of that which it represents, as well as standing first in time; as, the primitive church. Primitive also very frequently signifies having the original or early characteristics without remoteness in time.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

crude Crude persuasion is to persistently egg someone on.
archaic We inherited many of the genes of archaic humans.
rudimentary She has a rudimentary grasp of the Berber language.
antiquated He has somewhat antiquated ideas about education.
primordial We lay together and enjoyed the primordial delight.
primeval Prehistoric man lived in the primeval forest.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
primitive		falling
crude		falling
archaic		steady
rudimentary		steady
antiquated		steady
primordial		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: old¹
4 letters: rude¹
5 letters: first¹, early², prime¹, rough¹, crude¹, naive², retro², radix
6 letters: simple², primal²
7 letters: primary³, ancient², initial³, radical³, antique², archaic³, nascent², outworn
8 letters: original⁴, backward², pristine², primeval³
9 letters: beginning³, backwards², untrained², unrefined³, incipient⁴, underived
10 letters: aboriginal⁵, indefinite⁴, antiquated⁴, primordial⁴, immemorial⁵, rudimental
11 letters: rudimentary⁵, undeveloped⁴, uncivilized⁴, uncivilised
12 letters: antediluvian, noncivilized, noncivilised
13 letters: autochthonous, plesiomorphic
14 letters: antiderivative
15 letters: unsophisticated⁶

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (early² = 2 syllables).