Meaning & use

animalistic

adjective·Advanced

Relating to or resembling the instinctive, physical behavior typical of animals rather than reasoned thought.

See it in a sentence

Fear brought out an animalistic urge in him to simply run and hide.

The film's animalistic fight scenes emphasized raw, primal aggression over strategy.

A note on using this word

Animalistic usually carries a negative or primal connotation, unlike the neutral term 'animal-like.'

Words with a similar meaning

instinctiveprimalbestial

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

rationalcivilized

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