| 1. | of or pertaining to Neanderthal man. |
| 2. | (often lowercase ) Informal. primitive, unenlightened, or reactionary; culturally or intellectually backward. |
| 3. | Neanderthal man. |
| 4. | (often lowercase ) Informal.
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The ancient and now extinct relatives of modern humans. Neanderthals lived in Europe about 150,000 years ago and were the earliest form of the human species, Homo sapiens.
Note: The term Neanderthal is sometimes used to refer to a person who is thought to have primitive or unenlightened ideas: “I tried talking politics to Joe, but he's a real Neanderthal.”