troglodyte

Definition

A member of a supposed prehistoric race that lived in caves or holes, a caveman.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin trōglodyta (“cave-dwelling person”), from Ancient Greek τρωγλοδύτης (trōglodútēs, “one who dwells in holes”), from τρώγλη (trṓglē, “hole”) + δύω (dúō, “to get into”).

Example Sentences

• "The cave was populated by albino scorpions, blind salamanders, and other troglodytes."
• "Inhabited as early as the Gallo-Roman era, the caves of the troglodytes are slighted in guidebooks, naturally overshadowed by the chateaus of the kings."
• "Blair brought out the febrile intensity of Stanhope, wiring himself into his ever more circumscribed troglodyte world, speculating moodily on the worm that went down when it thought it was coming up. Robert Philp thought Blair's ..."