gorilla

noun

gə-ˈri-lə How to pronounce gorilla (audio)
Definition of gorillanext
as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang the loan shark sent a couple of gorillas to "convince" him to pay up

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of gorilla Look at a chimpanzee, a gorilla or even most women, and that landmark all but disappears. — Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026 In this new study, a team from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom analyzed recordings from four orangutans, two gorillas, four chimpanzees, three bonobos, two gorillas, and four humans. — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 25 June 2026 Researchers tickled 13 captive apes — including gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos — and recorded the results. — ABC News, 25 June 2026 Chimpanzees and gorillas both live in groups where nearly all of the adults are female. — ArsTechnica, 25 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for gorilla
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gorilla
  1. thug
  2. villain
  3. bandit
  4. gangster
  5. criminal
  6. assassin
  7. pirate
  8. hood
Noun
  • Shortly after his big win, he’s attacked by two thugs in a parking garage.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 30 July 2026
  • The night of the title fight, Duke is attacked by two thugs who smash his hand with a hammer and, in the ensuing chaos, kill somebody close to him.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 30 July 2026
Definition of thug
Noun
  • In July, Roku made the city even more interactive with a new brand campaign that guides users to visit six themed areas featuring humorous promo spots, including a pirate ship, a volcano and a villain’s evil lair.
    — Pat Saperstein, Variety, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Still, bonus points for casting Chukwudi Iwuji as the menacing High Evolutionary, one of the oddest and most unsettling Marvel villains in recent memory.
    — EW Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of villain
Noun
  • The film reimagines the legend of Chang’Er, the moon goddess, and her husband, the archer Hou Yi, picking up the story after Chang’Er ascends to the moon and setting her on a journey to its dark side alongside a bandit from Earth.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 4 Aug. 2026
  • In Kogi State, bandits recently raided an orphanage and took twenty-three children hostage.
    — Alexis Okeowo, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of bandit
Noun
  • Badly in Love manages to break through because the cast of men and women looking for true love are from the Japanese yankii subculture—juvenile delinquents, motorcycle gangsters, troubled women, and more.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 31 July 2026
  • Ritchson plays a tough guy who falls for a local gangster’s girl.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 21 July 2026
Definition of gangster
Noun
  • More than a year earlier, Arlington, Massachusetts sent four straight monthly payments totaling $446,000 to a criminal who had impersonated a real vendor and asked to switch from paper checks to electronic transfer.
    — Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Do not ignore a small charge because criminals sometimes use minor transactions to test an account.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of criminal
Noun
  • Created by Tessa Coates, Ride or Die is a spy action comedy about an assassin, Judith (Waddingham) whose latest case inadvertently involves her best friend of more than 20 years, Debbie (Spencer), a politician’s wife.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 4 Aug. 2026
  • This show loves nothing more this season than to introduce a potential assassin and promptly thwart his plan via blade to the head or neck.
    — Brian Grubb, Vulture, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of assassin
Noun
  • After all, what are the pirate-ship kitchens Bourdain recounts early in Kitchen Confidential if not a more dangerous, adult version of the juvenile hijinks that have always fascinated Johnson?
    — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 29 July 2026
  • One, a delight for the kitchen — the pressure, the camaraderie, the artist's heart, the pirate's adoration of heat and knives — and, another, hard drugs.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 July 2026
Definition of pirate
Noun
  • Depending on the vehicle, this was generally as simple as popping the hood, removing a cap from the back of the headlight, and changing the bulb.
    — Matthew MacConnell, ArsTechnica, 3 Aug. 2026
  • The doors were open to let smoke out since the vent hood wasn’t working, and several flies had gotten inside.
    — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of hood

Browse Nearby Words

gorgons
gorilla
gorillas
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Gorilla.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gorilla. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on gorilla

Nglish: Translation of gorilla for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about gorilla

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