What is "atavists"

Usage examples of "atavists".

The pure strain has become diluted but there are instances of atavists.

Some deep need within these atavists demanded that the gods be appeased and thanked by human sacrifice.

But you, you grotesque little atavists, stare blindly at the skyscrapers and smokestacks around you and dream of enslaving the material providers who are scientists, inventors, industrialists.