Definition of "atavic" [a•tav•ic]

• Ancestral, atavistic (adjective)

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• "They all spoke in a rough manner; their grammar and word-forms were incorrect; language in them leaped backwards into a curious atavic regression."
• "The man was struggling with the atavic impulse to thrash the maddening, arrogant woman creature into a humbler frame of mind."
• "With atavic cunning he sat upon the outside and waited for the triumph of death."