Trogs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Referring to primitive or uncivilized individuals often considered brutish or crude ; denoting fictional subterranean humanoid creatures typically depicted as primitive or hostile ; used colloquially to describe someone of low sophistication or manners, akin to a caveman
2. Representing people perceived as lacking modern refinement or culture ; characterizing mythic or fantasy beings dwelling underground with primitive traits ; informally labeling a person whose behavior is unsophisticated or rough in nature
3. Indicating humans regarded as barbaric or primitive in social behavior ; signifying imaginary creatures living beneath the earth, often hostile or simple in nature ; slang for a person who exhibits crude or uncultured habits or appearance

Etymology: "Trogs" is the plural of "trog," a clipped form of "troglodyte." The fuller word came into English from Latin "troglodyta," which in turn came from Greek "troglodytes," literally "one who creeps into holes" or "cave-dweller," from "trōglē," a hole or cave, and "dyein," to enter. The Greeks used it for a people said to live in caves, and it was later applied to any primitive or cave-dwelling figure. The shortened "trog" is the form that carries the modern insult. It is used for brutish or unsophisticated people, and in fiction for subterranean humanoid creatures, usually shown as primitive or hostile. Its exact date of coinage is not something I can pin down, but it is clearly a later, informal clipping of the longer word.

Synonyms: cavemen, troglodytes, primitive people, savages, barbarians

Antonyms: civilized people, nobles, gentlemen, aristocrats, cultured people