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/æt.əˈvɪs.tɪk/ · adjective
(biology) Of the recurrence of a trait reappearing after an absence of one or more generations due to a chance recombination of genes..
Although the heterozygote gives it an atavistic appearance, the gene is not atavistic.
Thus the gene which produced atavistic digits in the vigorous heterozygous pentadactyl condition is a lethal monster in the homozygous condition.
Reactivation of a dormant atavistic gene could account for the abnormal costocoracoid ligament in humans.
They made me feel that I was alive in the nineteenth century, a sort of atavistic remnant, a romantic shred […]
The true perversion took place only in the privacy of her mind — the way she imagined an atavistic macho atop her when engaged in a mandatory contribution to the fetus-banks with some cretinous inept breeder…
Because I am atavistic enough to believe that drawing is the basic language of the illustrator, even as words comprise the basic language of the writer…
Use atavistic when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Atavistic means (biology) Of the recurrence of a trait reappearing after an absence of one or more generations due to a chance recombination of genes..
Common synonyms include atavistical, regressive, throwback.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
Although the heterozygote gives it an atavistic appearance, the gene is not atavistic.
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