insect
Americannoun
-
insects
plural
-
any animal of the class Insecta, comprising small, air-breathing arthropods having the body divided into three parts (head, thorax, and abdomen), and having three pairs of legs and usually two pairs of wings.
-
any small arthropod, such as a spider, tick, or centipede, having a superficial, general similarity to the insects.
-
a contemptible or unimportant person.
adjective
noun
-
any small air-breathing arthropod of the class Insecta, having a body divided into head, thorax, and abdomen, three pairs of legs, and (in most species) two pairs of wings. Insects comprise about five sixths of all known animal species, with a total of over one million named species
-
(loosely) any similar invertebrate, such as a spider, tick, or centipede
-
a contemptible, loathsome, or insignificant person
-
Any of very numerous, mostly small arthropods of the class Insecta, having six segmented legs in the adult stage and a body divided into three parts (the head, thorax, and abdomen). The head has a pair of antennae and the thorax usually has one or two pairs of wings. Most insects undergo substantial change in form during development from the young to the adult stage. More than 800,000 species are known, most of them beetles. Other insects include flies, bees, ants, grasshoppers, butterflies, cockroaches, aphids, and silverfish.
-
See Notes at biomass bug entomology
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of insect
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin insectum, noun use of neuter of insectus, past participle of insecāre “to incise, cut”; translation of Greek éntomon “insect,” literally, “notched or incised one”; see entomo-; cf. segment
Explanation
An insect is commonly called a bug. Flies, bees, and wasps are all insects. Insects are the tiny marvels of the natural world. From industrious ants to dazzling butterflies, these miniature critters come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, each with its own special role in ecosystems worldwide. With over a million species identified and countless more waiting to be discovered, insects continue to fascinate scientists and inspire curiosity in nature lovers everywhere. Insect comes from the Latin phrase animal insectum, which means "animal with a cut up (segmented) body."
Vocabulary lists containing insect
Buzzwords for National Honey Bee Day
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
A Cut Above: Sect, Sec
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Even so, the researchers say much of Australia's insect diversity remains undocumented.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
Painted ladies undertake one of the world's most remarkable insect migrations, travelling from Africa to the UK over several generations, crossing the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
At the opening of “The Buddhist Bug” at the Vincent Price Art Museum on Saturday, guests will see a 328-foot-long orange insect.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
An invasive insect linked to major agricultural losses in the US has been detected in the European Union for the first time, Hungary's food safety agency said Thursday.
From Barron's
My whole body ached, and once fully awake I started to feel the itching of insect bites.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Golden rice fields stretch across the Vercelli plain between Milan and Turin, a parcelled landscape broken only by the wood and wetlands created by Cerutti, now home to rare birds and insects.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
For spring 2027, you created this fantastical garden populated by insects, beginning with a chrysalis and ending with the emergence of butterflies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
During summer peaks the hives become home to about 180,000 of the striped insects.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
The great migration of the Bogong moth was once a yearly feature of the Australian spring, the insects humming down the nation's east coast in their billions as they searched for cooler climes.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
“It’ll help with the insects and the smell.”
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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.
