tribal Hear it!

tribal Definition

tribal (trībəl)

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of a tribe or tribes

tribal Related Forms
trib·ally adverb
tribal Synonyms

tribal

modif.

tribular, racial, kindred; see common 5, group.

tribal Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • chieftain: Tribal chieftain who was located in budding skier to to science the.
  • elder: But Dr. Goebbels has taught us tribal elders that a lie repeated often enough comes to be believed.
  • tattoo: Tribal tattoos are usually abstract designs or patterns often designed to fit the body.
  • warfare: In the east, however, fighting between rival factions and tribal warfare continued.
  • affiliation: Some archeologists have seen the pottery as relating to tribal affiliations.
  • loyalty: To counter this he has staffed the upper ranks with individuals tied to him by bonds of tribal loyalty or personal history.

Modifying Another Word

  • almost: I feel like it is a cross between something from the 60s and almost tribal music.
  • very: It was very North African, a very tribal sound: very electronic.
  • predominantly: Working, miles away from the tourist trail, with the still predominantly tribal Swazi people made me feel extremely privileged.
  • not: But unlike Fathers Raymond Murray and Des Wilson, and although nicknamed " The Provo Priest " , Faul was not tribal.
  • even: Ancient, even tribal attachments were not vanishing in the globalized 21st century; on the contrary, they were becoming more intense.
  • strictly: The task, however, was simplified by the strictly tribal disposition of the forces.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: Ask a Wiganer about pies and they become very tribal.
tribal Quotes

   There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, Andöeveryösingleöoneöoföthemöisöright!

—Kipling, (Joseph) Rudyard

For tribal man space was the uncontrollable mystery. For technological man it is time that occupies the same role.

—McLuhan, (Herbert) Marshall