How to Use primal in a Sentence

primal

adjective
Definition of primalnext
Synonyms for primalnext
  • Cawley let out a primal scream and dropped to the floor, sobbing.
    — Anna Almendrala, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2021
  • Even more impressive may have been his primal roar from the bench afterwards.
    — Mike Mazzeo, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2021
  • Smells also serve as a primal alarm system alerting humans to dangers in our environment, like fires or gas leaks.
    — New York Times, 2 Jan. 2021
  • Venus in Scorpio is serving primal, raw and unfiltered sensual desires, as well as an appetite for love.
    — Lisa Stardust, refinery29.com, 23 Sep. 2024
  • The impulse could be primal; after all, cinema borrowed its dramatic structure from theater.
    — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Mar. 2021
  • His characters are seized by desire and driven to distraction by it—and that distraction is, in his cinematic world view, a primal danger.
    — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2021
  • But that primal urge to be among people — or at least have them within socially distant sight — manifested itself in less-obvious settings as well.
    — John King, SFChronicle.com, 1 Jan. 2021
  • But when these utter novices tap into that weird, primal thing that is artistic expression, the movie soars into a blazing display of the power of music to transcend and transform.
    — Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2021
  • There’s something primal about leaving one’s mark on a monument, and some designers treat that impulse as a form of participation rather than vandalism.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 15 Mar. 2021
  • It's designed to invoke your most primal desires—whether that's for an exquisite gaming chair, an affordable laptop, or just a machine to squirt out single servings of delicious fro-yo.
    — Adrienne So, Wired, 14 Jan. 2021
  • Ramsay’s amazing skill with editing and sound design is balanced by Phoenix’s instinctual, almost primal performance.
    — Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2021
  • The choreography is open-ended and primal, and important for how the piece is conceived, designed, implemented and experienced.
    — Sydney Skybetter, Wired, 7 Feb. 2021
  • Bored, restless, and annoyed by the hubbub around her, Yasmin retreats to her cabin, where she is confronted by a coital scene that is almost immediately revealed to be primal.
    — Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
  • And at the end of the chorus, that whole primal sing-yell thing came out.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 18 Sep. 2022
  • The sense of being at once hunter and prey feels primal.
    — Simon Parkin, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2023
  • Lewis unleashed the saints and demons of primal rock ‘n’ roll.
    — Richard Corliss, Time, 28 Oct. 2022
  • And to me, that was like such a primal description of him.
    — Alex Ritman, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Nov. 2022
  • Full moons are primal, to begin with, and Aries is ruled by Mars, the horny god of war.
    — Sophie Saint Thomas, Allure, 25 Apr. 2022
  • On the way back to the city, Tiffan yelped in a primal scream—a cicada was on her knee.
    — Ross Kenneth Urken, Scientific American, 14 June 2021
  • That’s when the crowd erupted while Woods pumped his fists and let out a primal scream.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2021
  • But there is something primal about the way humans look for a light in the dark.
    — Susanna Schrobsdorff, Time, 11 Sep. 2021
  • When the win was secure, head coach Ben Brinkman turned to his bench and let out a primal scream.
    — Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Jan. 2024
  • And yet, in the midst of futile attempts to grind out yardage on the ground, the game’s primal Cro-Magnon essence was fun to watch.
    — Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 11 Sep. 2022
  • When the ball found the bottom of the net, DeRozan unleashed a primal scream of pure catharsis.
    — Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 12 Apr. 2021
  • Blue Origin’s is slow and steady, while SpaceX’s is more of a primal scream.
    — Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2021
  • The whole movie, for me, is a bit of a primal scream against the carnival-like idiocy of the past six years.
    — David Sims, The Atlantic, 26 Dec. 2022
  • The Lakers center then let out a primal yell, flexed and mean-mugged.
    — Broderick Turner Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2021
  • The primal feel of the knife has unleashed something in Shauna.
    — Erin Qualey, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2022
  • The primal force of the fire draws pilgrims to the lips of the craters, and has drawn Weston around the world in chase of that initial eruption.
    — Nina MacLaughlin, BostonGlobe.com, 13 July 2023
  • As a primal element of power, land has flowed from the weak to the strong for centuries.
    — Patrik Jonsson, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Nov. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'primal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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