Advertisement

View synonyms for ape

ape

[ eyp ]

noun

  1. Anthropology, Zoology. any member of the superfamily Hominoidea, the two extant branches of which are the lesser apes (gibbons) and the great apes (humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans). catarrhine.
  2. (loosely) any primate except humans.
  3. an imitator; mimic.
  4. Informal. a big, ugly, clumsy person.
  5. Disparaging and Offensive. (used as a slur against a member of a racial or ethnic minority group, especially a Black person.)


verb (used with object)

, aped, ap·ing.
  1. to ape another's style of writing.

adjective

  1. Slang. (usually in the phrase go ape )
    1. violently emotional:

      When she threatened to leave him, he went ape.

    2. extremely enthusiastic (often followed by over or for ):

      They go ape over old rock music.

      We were all ape for the new movie trailer.

ape

/ eɪp /

noun

  1. any of various primates, esp those of the family Pongidae , in which the tail is very short or absent See anthropoid ape See also great ape
  2. not in technical use any monkey
  3. an imitator; mimic
  4. informal.
    a coarse, clumsy, or rude person


verb

  1. tr to imitate

Discover More

Sensitive Note

Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˈapeˌlike, adjective

Discover More

Other Words From

  • ape·like adjective

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of ape1

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English apa; cognate with Old Saxon apo, Old Norse api, Old High German affo ( German Affe ); further origin uncertain

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of ape1

Old English apa; related to Old Saxon ape, Old Norse api, Old High German affo

Discover More

Example Sentences

Except in this novel, it’s almost all of the animals—monkeys, apes, big cats, bears, and wolves—that are disappearing.

We aren’t God’s final and most perfect creation, after all, but merely one more product of the same evolutionary process that gave rise to apes, lampreys, and limpets.

After finding the Ramnagar molar in 2015, Gilbert’s team compared it with corresponding teeth of living and extinct apes and monkeys.

It turned out to be a roughly 13-million-year-old molar from a small-bodied ape related to modern gibbons.

People would gather to watch the apes in Rwanda’s national parks.

His play The Hairy Ape, the agent noted, “could easily lend itself to radical propaganda.”

It was just another crazy Twitter account, with one exception: this ugly ape represented me, without my permission.

They found that 60 percent of plantations overlapped with great ape habitat across the entire area.

But a series of misunderstandings triggers an all-out war between man and ape, threatening the future of mankind.

Yup, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld compared President Obama to an ape.

Widder Morse wants to ape these well-to-do folks that live tother end o Whiffle Street.

In the cave of Naulette, near Dinant, Belgium, has been found the lower jaw of a man of decidedly ape-like aspect.

The lower jaws in both were heavy, while the woman was almost destitute of a chin—a marked ape-like characteristic.

This disposition the man-ape lost as its foot fitted itself to the surface of the ground.

It is quite within the limits of probability, for instance, that the man-ape at an early date became omnivorous in its diet.

Advertisement

Related Words

Word of the Day

inveterate

[in-vet-er-it ]

Meaning and examples

Start each day with the Word of the Day in your inbox!

By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


APCapeak