ape

American  

[eyp] / eɪp /

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).

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.)

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verb (used with object)

aped, aping

1. to imitate; mimic.

   to ape another's style of writing.

adjective

1. Slang. (usually in the phrasego ape )

   1. violently emotional.

      When she threatened to leave him, he went ape.

   2. extremely enthusiastic (often followed by over orfor ).

      They go ape over old rock music.

      We were all ape for the new movie trailer.

ape British  

/ 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

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verb

1. (tr) to imitate

Sensitive Note

See simianization.

Other Word Forms

• apelike adjective

Etymology

Origin of ape

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

Example Sentences

But there are no ape characters in the Lion King.

From Slate • Feb. 6, 2026

Other digital asset treasury companies that sought to ape Saylor’s modus operandi have suffered a similar fate.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 5, 2026

In February, customs officials at Mumbai airport stopped a smuggler with five Siamang Gibbons, an ape native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

From Barron's • Oct. 31, 2025

Humans developed large brains and flatter faces at an unexpectedly swift pace compared to other apes, according to a new analysis of ape skulls by researchers at UCL.

From Science Daily • Oct. 29, 2025

Now what I wanted most in the world was to manage to fall asleep on a rock with an ape snoring in my face.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer

Related Words

• emulate
• imitate