jackanapes
Americannoun
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an impertinent, presumptuous person, especially a young man; whippersnapper.
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an impudent, mischievous child.
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Archaic. an ape or monkey.
noun
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a conceited impertinent person
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a mischievous child
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archaic a monkey
Etymology
Origin of jackanapes
1400–50; late Middle English Jakken-apes, literally, jack (i.e., man) of the ape, nickname of William de la Pole (1396–1450), Duke of Suffolk, whose badge was an ape's clog and chain
Explanation
A jackanapes is a smart-mouthed, rascally person. You might be tempted to call your babysitting charge a jackanapes after he locks you out of the house for the third time. Jackanapes is a colorful but very old fashioned way to describe a rascal or a whippersnapper. Your great-grandfather might shake his cane and yell, "Get off my lawn, you jackanapes!" when the neighbor kids lose their basketball in his yard, but they're unlikely to know what the word means. Jackanapes is from the fifteenth century, and it's thought to come from the phrase "Jack of Naples," or to have some connection to the word apes, but experts are uncertain.
Vocabulary lists containing jackanapes
Murder on the Orient Express
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"The Night Before Christmas" by Nikolai Gogol
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O'Reilly's Lexicon of Epithets
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Elon Musk of today seems to be angling for the trophy of World’s Biggest Jackanapes.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2022
Alas, just as I was winding up this column, I received a package from Jackanapes Press containing Adam Bolivar’s “The Ettinfell of Beacon Hill: Gothic Tales of Boston,” which is said to be terrific.
From Washington Post • Oct. 18, 2021
The preëminence of "Jackanapes" among these many splendid stories may at least partly be accounted for by the fact that it grew out of the heat of a great conviction about life.
From Children's Literature A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes by Clippinger, Erle Elsworth
Jackanapes got up and shook himself, none the worse except for being heels over head in love with the red-haired pony.
From Children's Literature A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes by Clippinger, Erle Elsworth
"You should see it in Fair-week, sir," said Jackanapes, shaking his yellow mop, and leaning back in his one of the two Chippendale arm-chairs in which they sat.
From Children's Literature A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes by Clippinger, Erle Elsworth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
