simian
any of the monkeys or apes, classified into two subdivisions, the platyrrhines (New World monkeys) and the catarrhines (Old World monkeys and apes, including humans).: See also haplorhine.
Disparaging and Offensive. (used as a slur against a member of a racial or ethnic minority group, especially a Black person.)
of or relating to any of the monkeys or apes.
characteristic of apes or monkeys: long, simian fingers.
Disparaging and Offensive. (used to describe a member of a racial or ethnic minority group, especially a Black person.)
Origin of simian
1usage note For simian
Other words from simian
- sim·i·an·i·ty [sim-ee-an-i-tee], /ˌsɪm iˈæn ɪ ti/, noun
- sub·sim·i·an, adjective
Words Nearby simian
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use simian in a sentence
Behind-the-canvas anecdotes are delicious, such as when “Candid Camera” host Allen Funt complained that Hirschfeld made him look like a simian.
Al Hirschfeld: Drawing entertainers with pen and ink, elegance and wit | Michael Cavna | July 30, 2021 | Washington PostBut soon after they salvaged the illustrated simian, it was actually he who saved them.
After Justice and simian won Best Video for “We Are Your Friends,” West crashed the stage with an “Aw, hell naw!”
Professor Garner has studied simian speech so carefully that he is able to converse with Monkeys to a limited extent.
The manner in which the worn surface of the tooth slopes downwards and forwards has been claimed as another simian character.
Prehistoric Man | W. L. H. Duckworth
Do you think that the unrestrained performance of Jazz-music conduces to the moral betterment of the simian proletariat?
About that God he writes his first paragraph, untroubled by any simian suspicions.
Great Ralegh | Hugh De SelincourtUp the ladder scrambled, simian in agility, a tall and wiry man of middle age.
Cursed | George Allan England
British Dictionary definitions for simian
/ (ˈsɪmɪən) /
of, relating to, or resembling a monkey or ape: Also (rare): simious (ˈsɪmɪəs)
a monkey or ape
Origin of simian
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for simian
[ sĭm′ē-ən ]
Resembling or characteristic of apes or monkeys.
An ape or monkey. Ther term simian is no longer used in scientific contexts. Compare prosimian.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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