as in copies
to use (someone or something) as the model for one's speech, mannerisms, or behavior
was caught aping the substitute teacher's thick accent
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as in hams
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as in anthropoids
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of apes
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 31 Oct. 2025
There are high columns crawling with ivy, nearly 12 acres of rolling lawns, teensy windows with teensy shutters, and a diminutive pool house that apes a fairy-tale cottage.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 16 Sep. 2025
Verb
More importantly, this origin story of a movie and a movement apes the joie de moviemaking and the jazzy looseness of the original to an absolutely amazing degree, replicating an off-the-cuff feeling that’s more than a second-hand buzz.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 31 Oct. 2025
There are high columns crawling with ivy, nearly 12 acres of rolling lawns, teensy windows with teensy shutters, and a diminutive pool house that apes a fairy-tale cottage.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 16 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apes
Verb
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From about 2011 to 2014, Gates emails Epstein directly, and often one of the pair copies Cohen or Nikolic.—
Erin Mansfield,
USA Today,
5 Feb. 2026
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Despite initial skepticism, the 1994 tournament drew record crowds and $50 million surplus, spurring MLS’s creation and innovations FIFA now copies worldwide.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Patagonia’s proprietary synthetic fill imitates down’s structure by spinning air-trapping microfilaments around a central fiber and requires fewer stabilizing seams and baffles than down.—
Kelly Bastone,
Outside,
10 Feb. 2026
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And, because life sometimes imitates art, Williams and Storrie are heading to the Olympics.—
Anna Zucca,
Vanity Fair,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
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For much of his career, Skarsgård has gravitated toward characters who weaponize physical presence — Vikings, tech titans and mythic brutes whose power is immediately legible.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
9 Jan. 2026
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Credit to producers Tim Zinnemann and George Linder for selecting a veritable array of brutes to wage battle with Arnold.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Lent is a 40-day period of fasting and prayer that emulates Jesus Christ's time in the desert.—
Chris Sims,
Louisville Courier Journal,
18 Feb. 2026
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The 60-second spot emulates a karaoke screen at a bar, with basic computer animation and less-than-stylish graphics.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Prior to showing the video, Zamani read out a list of musicians, artists, filmmakers and actors confirmed as having been killed in the crackdown as well as another half dozen arts and culture professionals who have been detained, requesting that that the audience applaud each of the names.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
19 Feb. 2026
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The episode includes highlights from the screening and panel that brought together the six actors and singers — EJAE, Ji-young Yoo, Audrey Nuna, Arden Cho, May Hong and Rei Ami — for the first time to discuss how the Netflix-Sony Pictures hit has touched their hearts and changed their careers.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Even the Dodgers, the cartoon villains of spending, kind of sort of have a limit.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
18 Feb. 2026
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Head coach Patty Gasso and her bunch remain the biggest villains in the Texas softball universe.—
Thomas Jones,
Austin American Statesman,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Costumed reporters and awkward celebrity posers.—
Jerry Brewer,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
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Rideshare posers have also allegedly raped passengers.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
11 Aug. 2025
Noun
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In addition, there’s the risk of secondary toxicity if a mole is eaten by a bird of prey or other predator including foxes and skunks.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
15 Feb. 2026
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But toads and frogs are also prey animals for owls, hawks, skunks, opossums, and raccoons.—
Michelle Mastro,
Martha Stewart,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Apes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apes. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
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