Barbaric describes actions or practices that are shockingly cruel, brutal, or uncivilized. When something is barbaric, it shows a complete disregard for human decency and basic kindness.

You might read about barbaric punishments in history books, where criminals faced tortures that seem unimaginably harsh to us today. Or you might hear someone describe a particularly vicious act as barbaric because it seems to belong to a time before people developed laws and moral codes meant to protect each other.

Today, we use barbaric to describe things that violate our sense of how human beings should treat each other. If a coach screamed insults at young players and forced them to practice until they collapsed, someone might call that treatment barbaric. The word carries strong moral judgment: it says that certain actions fall below the basic standards of humanity.