NEANDERTHALS Synonyms: 153 Similar and Opposite Words

Neanderthals

noun

plural of Neanderthal

as in losers

a big clumsy often slow-witted person they looked like a tribe of Neanderthals compared to the bridegroom's patrician-looking family

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in barbarians

a man with crude manners and habits and outmoded attitudes made the mistake of dining with some Neanderthal who repeatedly mistook his shirtsleeve for a napkin

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for Neanderthals

Noun

Winners, losers, and the suppliers caught in between Rivals are catching on.

— Sarwant Singh, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
That is a big risk investors take when trying to find the winners and losers within the biotech sector.

— Jay Woods, CNBC, 2 July 2026

Definition of losers

Noun

The world drew heavily from the paintings of fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta, who depicted scenes of barbarians and beasts in conflict, of pulp fiction heroes, femme fatales, and fierce warrior women.

— Steve Appleford, SPIN, 29 June 2026
To an outsider, the scene may spark a certain Schadenfreude, like an army of tiny barbarians sacking Rome.

— Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 29 June 2026

Definition of barbarians

Noun

Can turkey tail mushrooms shrink lipomas, the soft, fatty lumps that show up under the skin of countless aging dogs?

— Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 25 June 2026
Far from lumps of rock, the trojans, along with DJ and Dinkinesh (which is the Ethiopian name for the Lucy fossil), are windows into the past, and the storytellers of the Earth's most ancient history.

— Keith Cooper, Space.com, 19 June 2026

Definition of lumps

Noun

Fireworks can frighten animals and send them scattering, but Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets apparently are made of sterner stuff.

— Sandra McDonald, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
First, the animals whose skins would become parchment—typically sheep or calves—had to be slaughtered; a complete bible required the skins of around five hundred sheep.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 July 2026

Definition of animals

Noun

There are complicated brain-chemistry factors involved that have to do with testosterone, and dopaminergic systems, and kappa-opioid receptors, all of which seem to add up to a Jim Gaffigan joke about how men are morons compared with their wives.

— McKay Coppins, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2026
The Dilbert principle — traced back to a quote in a 1995 strip — posited that managers and higher-ups are actually successful morons whose stubbornness is confused for real leadership qualities.

— Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 13 Jan. 2026

Definition of morons

Noun

The findings add to a growing body of evidence that Neanderthals — our closest extinct human relatives — were cognitively and psychologically more similar to modern humans than previously thought, rather than the simple-minded, brutish cavemen of earlier stereotypes.

— Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 13 May 2026
The strip explored the life of a group of cavemen and their anthropomorphic animals and dinosaurs in prehistoric times, and has been in production for nearly 70 years, currently managed by Hart’s family.

— Arushi Jacob, Variety, 2 Apr. 2026

Definition of cavemen

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

Neanderthal

Neanderthals

near

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Neanderthals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Neanderthals. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of Neanderthals

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

perfunctory

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Popular in Wordplay

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes