1. belief in or advocacy of a simple way of life regarded as natural or original
2. artistic or literary styles that imitate or are inspired by primitive art forms
Usage: art; literature
3. primitive practices, conditions, or characteristics

Examples

• The artist’s work showed influences of various primitivisms from African cultures.
• Modern primitivisms often romanticize pre-industrial societies.
• The museum’s exhibition explored primitivisms in early 20th-century painting.
• Critics argued that his primitivisms were merely fashionable affectations.
• The anthropologist studied different forms of primitivisms across cultures.
• Her poetry embraced primitivisms as a reaction against urban complexity.