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

The species, named Masripithecus moghraensis, provides new insight into ape diversity during a key period when Afro-Arabia was becoming connected to Eurasia, allowing species to spread beyond Africa.

From Science Daily • Mar. 27, 2026

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

Here, in the mountainous forests of Batang Toru, is where they had always seen and heard the world's rarest ape, the Tapanuli orangutans.

From BBC • Dec. 11, 2025

In battle he moved with a crouch, a fanged white ape, grinning.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

Related Words

• emulate
• imitate