ɑː.ˈkeɪ.ɪk ɑɹ.ˈkeɪ.ɪk kɹuːd naɪˈiːv ˈpɹɪmɪtɪv ˈpɹɪmɪtɪv ɹuːd ɹud used of preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial societies primitive societies little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type archaic forms of life primitive mammals the okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness the crude weapons and rude agricultural implements of early man primitive movies of the 1890s primitive living conditions in the Appalachian mountains of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style primitive art such as that by Grandma Moses is often colorful and striking a word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms ‘pick’ is the primitive from which ‘picket’ is derived a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived a person who belongs to an early stage of civilization