anthropoid

noun an·thro·poid \ ˈan(t)-thrə-ˌpȯid \

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of anthropoid

1 : any of a suborder (Anthropoidea) of higher primates (such as macaques and marmosets); especially : ape 1b

2 : a person resembling an ape

the howling anthropoids of the Hookworm Belt
—H. L. Mencken

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anthropoid

adjective

Recent Examples of anthropoid from the Web

This 65-67 million-year-old relic looked down from on high on the anthropoids enjoying their time of evolutionary flourishing.

— bradley j. fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Backstory to the 2017 biotech convention in San Diego," 18 June 2017
Since humans are apes, and apes are anthropoid primates, the last common ancestor of all anthropoids would be one of our distant primate ancestors.

— brian switek, WIRED, "Ganlea megacania and more "missing link" mania," 1 July 2009

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'anthropoid.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

With its suffix -oid, meaning "resembling", the word anthropoid means literally "resembling a human being". Anthropoid apes are so called because they resemble humans more closely than do other primates such as monkeys and lemurs. Some even spend a good deal of time walking on their hind legs. Anthropoids are, of course, highly intelligent (though maybe no more so than many monkeys), and some of them use sticks and stones as tools. (But if you call someone an anthropoid, you're probably not complimenting his intelligence.)