silverback
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of silverback
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 most recent primate was born Nov. 22 to 31-year-old N’djia and silverback Kelly, 38, whose daughter Angela in 2020 was the first gorilla born at the L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2025
According to the World Wildlife Fund, the average silverback gorilla weighs around 30 stone or 420 pounds; the kids weighed in at a combined 477 pounds.
From Salon ● Jun. 1, 2025
An admirer called him “the silverback gorilla of nerds.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2024
Both babies were sired by Kiburi, a 19-year-old silverback brought to the zoo from Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands as part of a conservation breeding program to help preserve the critically endangered gorilla subspecies.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 25, 2024
Almost as if he believes I’m the silverback I’m pretending to be.
From "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate
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.
