Word.ws English Dictionary

knuckle-dragging

knuckle-dragging adjective: holding beliefs or having attitudes that are primitive or uncivilised.

Adjective

knuckle-dragging (not comparable)

  1. (derogatory) Holding beliefs or having attitudes that are primitive or uncivilised.
    • The furore over Penguin's wise and brave decision to “reflect the diversity of British society” in its publishing and hiring output seems to have awoken the usual knuckle-dragging, semi-blind suspects with their endlessly repeated terrors and fears.2018 June 15, Hanif Kureishi, “Diversity in publishing is under attack. I hear the sound of knuckles dragging”, in The Guardian

Origin of knuckle-dragging

From the habit of some primates of walking with the forelimbs dragging along the ground.

Questions about knuckle-dragging

What does knuckle-dragging mean?
Knuckle-dragging means holding beliefs or having attitudes that are primitive or uncivilised.
What part of speech is knuckle-dragging?
Knuckle-dragging is an adjective.

Words near knuckle-dragging in the dictionary

  1. knuckle up
  2. knuckle-buster
  3. knuckle-busters
  4. knuckle-dragger
  5. knuckle-draggers
  6. knuckle-dragging
  7. knuckle-duster
  8. knuckle-dusters
  9. knuckle-kneed
  10. knuckle-scraper
  11. knuckle-scrapers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: knuckle-dragging (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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