1. a person who exhibits characteristics or behavior of a remote ancestor; someone who reverts to primitive or ancestral traits
Usage: often used in anthropology and psychology; can carry a pejorative connotation

Examples

• The anthropologist described the isolated tribe's customs as those of an atavist clinging to ancient practices.
• Some viewed his aggressive behavior as that of an atavist, lacking modern social refinement.
• The researcher studied atavists to understand how ancestral traits could resurface in modern populations.
• Critics called him an atavist for rejecting contemporary technology and returning to traditional methods.
• In evolutionary psychology, an atavist might display instincts thought to be long extinct in human development.