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of, relating to, or characterized by ; reverting to or suggesting the characteristics of a remote ancestor or primitive type.
Contemporary Examples

Sitting face to face with a Satmar man schooling her in atavistic Satmar rules was the last place she wanted to be.
How One Sex Abuse Case Tore Apart the Williamsburg Hasidim Allison Yarrow August 7, 2013

These atavistic triggers, however, aren’t very satisfying explanations taken alone.
The Afghanistan-Kyrgyzstan Connection Thomas Goltz June 18, 2010

These councils have been seeking amendments in the Hindu Marriage Act to support their atavistic views.
India’s Fatal Rape Was Typical in a Country That Degrades Women Anuradha Roy January 1, 2013

Historical Examples

Deering was very human and fought against an atavistic shrinking from the dark and loneliness.
Northwest! Harold Bindloss

It is only an atavistic phenomenon, the return to a former state.
Criminal Man Gina Lombroso-Ferrero

We are an ignorant, atavistic people; and our priests are wondrous moral.
Not Guilty Robert Blatchford

The criminal is an atavistic being, a relic of a vanished race.
Criminal Man Gina Lombroso-Ferrero

In the strict sense of the word, however, I doubt very much whether we can legitimately accept the atavistic explanation.
The Criminal Havelock Ellis

This is of great importance in view of the atavistic origin of crime.
Criminal Man Gina Lombroso-Ferrero

The probability, in this case, is that the atavistic variety will find its way into a pie, instead of being kept as a pet.
Stories of the Universe: Animal Life B. Lindsay

adjective
of or relating to reversion to a former or more primitive type
adj.

“pertaining to atavism,” 1847; see atavism + -ic.
atavistic
(āt’ə-vĭs’tĭk)
Relating to an inherited trait that reappears in an individual after being absent from a strain of organism for several generations. Atavistic traits were formerly thought to be throwbacks to ancestral types but are now known to be due to the inheritance of a pair of recessive genes.