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uncivilized; wild; savage; crude.
savagely cruel or harsh:
The prisoners of war were given barbarous treatment.
full of harsh sounds; noisy; discordant:
an evening of wild and barbarous music.
not conforming to classical standards or accepted usage, as language.
foreign; alien.
(among ancient Greeks) designating a person or thing of non-Greek origin.
Contemporary Examples

The barbarous Years, the long-awaited companion to Voyagers to the West, is an even greater achievement.
“The Barbarous Years”: What 17th-Century America Really Looked Like R.B. Bernstein November 21, 2012

However, very little information is gleaned from these barbarous methods.
‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Doesn’t Promote Torture Marlow Stern December 10, 2012

They wanted members of the public to see the consequence of what can only be described as their barbarous acts.
U.K. Beheading Trial’s Grisly Start Nico Hines November 29, 2013

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano called the attack “barbarous” and warned Italians not to return to those dark times.
Italian School Bombing Sparks Fear of Return to Bloodshed Barbie Latza Nadeau May 18, 2012

The collective trauma created by these barbarous acts is impossible to imagine, both in the U.S. and in the Middle East.
One Former Hostage Says Negotiate With ISIS, And Pay Ransoms If You Must Sarah Shourd September 5, 2014

Historical Examples

He hoped to arm against the ambition of Rome all the barbarous nations his neighbours, whose liberty she threatened.
Legends of the Saxon Saints Aubrey de Vere

The people were the poorest and most barbarous which he had met.
Introductory American History Henry Eldridge Bourne

Antiochus, advancing suddenly, caught some of the Parthian troops at their barbarous work, and dispersed them without difficulty.
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 6. (of 7): Parthia George Rawlinson

This barbarous and savage entanglement is absolutely défendu.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 98, March 1, 1890 Various

The Romans looked on chequers as barbarous national characteristics, and left them to the Gauls and Britons.
Needlework As Art Marian Alford

adjective
uncivilized; primitive
brutal or cruel
lacking refinement
adj.

c.1400, “uncivilized, uncultured, ignorant,” from Latin barbarus, from Greek barbaros (see barbarian). Meaning “not Greek or Latin” (of words or language) is from c.1500; that of “savagely cruel” is from 1580s.