anthropoid
noun
H. L. Mencken
Did you know?
With its suffix -oid, meaning "resembling", the word anthropoid means literally "resembling a human being". Anthropoid apes are so called because they resemble humans more closely than do other primates such as monkeys and lemurs. Some even spend a good deal of time walking on their hind legs. Anthropoids are, of course, highly intelligent (though maybe no more so than many monkeys), and some of them use sticks and stones as tools. (But if you call someone an anthropoid, you're probably not complimenting his intelligence.)
Example Sentences
Merrie Monteagudo, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 May 2021 This 65-67 million-year-old relic looked down from on high on the anthropoids enjoying their time of evolutionary flourishing. Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, 18 June 2017 Since humans are apes, and apes are anthropoid primates, the last common ancestor of all anthropoids would be one of our distant primate ancestors. Brian Switek, WIRED, 1 July 2009 Word History
noun derivative of anthropoid, adjective, "of human beings, human-like (of apes and other members of the taxonomic order Anthropoidea), ape-like," borrowed from Greek anthrōpoeidḗs "of human form," from ánthrōpos "human being" + -oeidēs -oid entry 2 — more at anthropo-
1874, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing anthropoid
Medical Definition
anthropoid 1 of 2
adjective
anthropoid
2 of 2noun
anthropoids
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- apes
- brutes
- villains
- snakes
- beasts
- cretins
- boors
- imbeciles
- skunks
- heels
- clowns
- skunk
- churls
- idiots
- ignoramuses
- blunderers
- louses
- cads
- morons
- stupes
- blockheads
- curs
- numskulls
- naturals
- creeps
- hammerheads
- dullards
- pinheads
- galoots
- dolts
- stinkers
- golems
- dimwits
- nuts
- tykes
- dopes
- deadheads
- donkeys
- boneheads
- noddies
- nincompoops
- ninnies
- lunkheads
- hardheads
- dunces
- birdbrains
- dunderheads
- simpletons
- stupids
- madmen
- sapheads
- turkeys
- cuddies
- airheads
- mutts
- knuckleheads
- chuckleheads
- simps
- yahoos
- geese
- dumbbells
- stocks
- meatheads
- noodles
- loggerheads
- loons
- fatheads
- ganders
- dim bulbs
- jackasses
- boobies
- prats
- bubbleheads
- lunatics
- dummies
- dodos
- nitwits
- momes
- goons
- ignorami
- schnooks
- tikes
- loonies
- dumbheads
- clots
- numbskulls
- goofs
- dufuses
- nimrods
- fools
- dorks
- chowderheads
- clodpoles
- dips
- clucks
- doofuses
- schlubs
- ratbags
- thickheads
- lamebrains
- clodpolls
- woodenheads
- clunks
- half-wits
- nits
- shlubs
- ninnyhammers
- dodoes
- scatterbrains
- dum-dums
- slouches
- know-nothings
- dummkopfs
- losers
- chumps
- turkeys
- rascals
- schlemiels
- yo-yos
- rogues
- lugs
- featherbrains
- mugs
- scamps
- clods
- Neanderthals
- lubbers
- clodhoppers
- oafs
- palookas
- louts
- hulks
- shlemiels
- gawks
- lumps
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- brains
- intellectuals
- thinkers
- sages
- genii
- geniuses
- wizards
- brainiacs
- whizzes