anthropoid

noun

an·​thro·​poid ˈan(t)-thrə-ˌpȯid 

1

: any of a suborder (Anthropoidea) of higher primates (such as macaques and marmosets)

especially : ape sense 1a

2

: a person resembling an ape

anthropoid adjective

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.)

Examples of anthropoid in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That the officiant would be a giant anthropoid jar of mayo named Manny Mayo was actually too good to be true. —Heather Schroering, Bon Appetit Magazine, 6 Aug. 2025

By never breaking the anthropoid conceit — keeping Williams a chimp from working-class childhood obscurity to adult pop-stardom — Better Man evolves into the most honest and exploratory showbiz movie ever made. —Armond White, National Review, 10 Jan. 2025

The Chinese, conversely, have been convinced forc enturies that the entire rest of the world is inhabited by an alien species of lower anthropoid. —Jean Shepherd, Car and Driver, 18 Dec. 2022

Solo’s first mate on the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca, a 7-foot monkey-face anthropoid has his own following. —Merrie Monteagudo, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 May 2021

But thanks to a meager fossil record, the question of where this first anthropoid was born has remained open. —Rachel Preiser, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019

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, 18 June 2017

Because the fossil indicates that the tarsier and anthropoid primate groups split before that era, the anthropoid lineage is also at least that old, says Beard. —Sid Perkins, Scientific American, 5 June 2013

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, 1 July 2009

Word History

Etymology

noun derivative of anthropoid, adjective, "of human beings, human-like (of apes and other members of the taxonomic order Anthropoidea), ape-like," borrowed from Greek anthrōpoeidḗs "of human form," from ánthrōpos "human being" + -oeidēs -oid entry 2 — more at anthropo-

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing anthropoid

• anthropoid ape

Rhymes for anthropoid

• adenoid
• alkaloid
• amoeboid
• amyloid
• aneroid
• arachnoid
• asteroid
• benzenoid
• carcinoid
• celluloid
• coronoid
• humanoid

Kids Definition

anthropoid

1 of 2 adjective

an·​thro·​poid

ˈan(t)-thrə-ˌpȯid

: of, relating to, or being an anthropoid

anthropoid apes

anthropoid

2 of 2 noun

1

: ape sense 1b

2

: a person resembling an ape (as in behavior)

Medical Definition

anthropoid

1 of 2 adjective

an·​thro·​poid ˈan(t)-thrə-ˌpȯid 

1

of the pelvis : having a slightly narrow, oval-shaped form compare android, gynecoid, platypelloid

2

: resembling humans

—used especially of the apes of the family Hominidae

anthropoid

2 of 2 noun

: ape sense 1