What does barbarous mean?
Barbarous is an adjective describing something extremely cruel, brutal, or savage, and, less commonly today, something uncultured, primitive, or lacking refinement. Its dominant modern sense appears in accounts of atrocities, harsh punishments, and violent regimes, where writers reach for it to convey conduct that shocks moral sensibilities. A secondary, more literary sense applies to crude language, unpolished style, or uncivilized customs. The word carries an intensely negative connotation and belongs chiefly to formal, journalistic, and historical writing rather than casual conversation. It derives from the Latin 'barbarus', borrowed from Greek 'barbaros', a term the Greeks applied to foreigners whose speech sounded like unintelligible babbling. Over centuries, the word shifted from describing foreignness of language to denoting cruelty and savagery, making it a vivid example of how a label for linguistic otherness hardened into a byword for inhumanity.
adjectiveExtremely brutal, cruel, or savage in manner or action; also, uncultured, primitive, or lacking refinement in language or taste.
- Extremely cruel, brutal, or savage (of actions, treatment, or people).
- Uncivilized, primitive, or lacking in culture, refinement, or polish (of customs, language, or taste).
"The prisoners were subjected to barbarous treatment that shocked the civilized world."
"Historians condemned the barbarous punishments inflicted during the regime's purges."
"Critics dismissed the manuscript as written in a barbarous style, full of ungrammatical constructions."
The ancient Greeks called anyone who couldn't speak Greek a 'barbaros' — someone whose speech sounded like meaningless 'bar-bar' babbling — which is how a word for gibberish became a word for cruelty.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of barbarous
Barbarous comes from the Latin 'barbarus', which was itself borrowed from the Greek 'barbaros'. The Greeks used 'barbaros' to describe anyone who did not speak Greek, imitating what foreign speech sounded like to them — repetitive 'bar-bar' noise. The word entered English via Old French in the late Middle Ages, initially carrying the sense of uncultured or non-Greek/Latin-speaking, and later developed its strong sense of extreme cruelty and savagery. Cognates include 'barbarian', 'barbarism', and 'barbarity', all from the same root.
Related word forms
How barbarous is actually used
Formal to literary register. The 'extremely cruel' sense dominates modern usage, especially in historical, journalistic, and human-rights contexts. The older sense relating to crude language or lack of cultivation survives mainly in literary criticism and discussions of style. Strongly negative connotation throughout.
Easily confused with barbarous
Barbaric and barbarous are near-synonyms both meaning extremely cruel or uncivilized; 'barbarous' is the older, more literary term, while 'barbaric' is more common in modern usage.
'Barbarian' is a noun referring to a person from an uncivilized culture, whereas 'barbarous' is an adjective describing cruel or uncivilized behavior.