atavism

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They think illiberal authoritarianism — “made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science,” to quote Winston Churchill — is the wave of the future, not an atavism from the past.

From Seattle Times

A fervent believer in atavism, he was particularly drawn to the fine-tuned measurement of the skull as an indicator of the savage proclivities of man.

From Salon

That a word we now perceive as benign would have such macabre origins is a reminder that we don’t live terribly far removed from superstition and atavism, either historically or psychologically.

From New York Times

I don’t have to explain the problems with this demeaning atavism.

From Washington Post

I had been in Morocco scarcely a few days, and I felt already as if I had entered a sphere of deep atavisms and belonging.

From New York Times