Illustration of orangutan
orangutan
noun
orang·u·tan
ə-ˈraŋ-ə-ˌtaŋ 
-ˈraŋ-gə-,
-ˌtan
: any of several largely herbivorous arboreal anthropoid apes (Pongo pygmaeus, P. abelii, and P. tapanuliensis) of Borneo and Sumatra that are about ²/₃ as large as the gorilla and have brown skin, long sparse reddish-brown hair, and very long arms
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Male Sumatran orangutans have a median life expectancy of about 25 years, according to zoo staff.
—
Sara Schilling, Sacbee.com, 25 July 2025
The 40-acre facility has among its list of roughly 1,600 critters, penguins, binturongs, sharks, dingoes, Flemish giant rabbits, servals, tree frogs, capuchin monkeys, moon jellyfish, pythons and orangutans.
—Katie Wiseman, IndyStar, 10 July 2025
In other words, the energy available to orangutans and gorillas may not be sufficient to support greater levels of activity and social behavior—and meat might be to blame.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
Epic story of perseverance and hope follows a 16-year-old boy who is shipwrecked in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and survives on a lifeboat with four companions: a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger.
—Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
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Sara Schilling, Sacbee.com, 25 July 2025
The 40-acre facility has among its list of roughly 1,600 critters, penguins, binturongs, sharks, dingoes, Flemish giant rabbits, servals, tree frogs, capuchin monkeys, moon jellyfish, pythons and orangutans.
—Katie Wiseman, IndyStar, 10 July 2025
In other words, the energy available to orangutans and gorillas may not be sufficient to support greater levels of activity and social behavior—and meat might be to blame.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
Epic story of perseverance and hope follows a 16-year-old boy who is shipwrecked in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and survives on a lifeboat with four companions: a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger.
—Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for orangutan
Cite this Entry
“Orangutan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orangutan. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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