troglodytism

troglodytism

English

Etymology

troglodyte +‎ -ism

Noun

troglodytism (uncountable)

1. The practice of living in caves or cavelike environments.
   • 1935, Sven Loven, Origins of the Tainan Culture, West Indies, University of Alabama Press (2010), →ISBN, page 121:

     Troglodytism did not extend over the West Indies generally. On many of the Lesser Antilles and Virgin Islands caves are entirely lacking, while in other places they were not suitable for dwellings.

   • 1964, Bernard Rudofsky, Architecture Without Architects: A Short Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Archietecture, University of New Mexico Press (1987), →ISBN, page 15:

     Troglodytism does not necessarily imply a low cultural level. The picture of the caveman dragging his mate by her hair is a cartoonist's cliché, betraying nostalgia for bygone days, rather than a portrait of the kind of people who prefer to live below ground.

   • 2005, Margaret Bidwell & Robin Bidwell, Morocco: The Traveller's Companion, Tauris Parke Paperbacks (2005), →ISBN, page 125:

     The fortress city of Taza is a fine example of troglodytism.

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:troglodytism.
2. (derogatory) The state or quality of being considered course, ignorant, uncultured, or unprogressive.
   • 1989, P. J. O'Rourke, "A Call For A New McCarthyism", The American Spectator, Vol. 22, No. 7, July 1989:

     Our era is supposed to be the 1950s all over again. Indeed, we are experiencing anew many of the pleasures and benefits of that excellent decade: a salubrious prudery, a sensible avariciousness, a healthy dose of social conformity, a much-needed narrowing of minds, and a return to common-sense American political troglodytism.

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:troglodytism.