dinosaur

[ dahy-nuh-sawr ]

noun

1. any chiefly terrestrial, herbivorous or carnivorous reptile of the extinct orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, from the Mesozoic Era, certain species of which are the largest known land animals.
2. something that is unwieldy in size, anachronistically outmoded, or unable to adapt to change:

   The old steel mill was a dinosaur that cost the company millions to operate.

dinosaur

/ ˈdaɪnəˌsɔː /

noun

1. any extinct terrestrial reptile of the orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, many of which were of gigantic size and abundant in the Mesozoic era See also saurischian ornithischian Compare pterosaur plesiosaur
2. a person or thing that is considered to be out of date

Derived Forms

• ˌdinoˈsaurian, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dinosaur¹

< New Latin Dinosaurus (1841), originally a genus name. See dino-, -saur

Word History and Origins

Origin of dinosaur¹

C19: from New Latin dinosaurus, from Greek deinos fearful + sauros lizard

Example Sentences

The fossil filled a 70-million-year gap in the understanding of how the brains of birds evolved: between the 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx, the earliest known bird-like dinosaur, and birds living today.

From BBC

Argos has also gone for the same characters as last year - cartoon duo Connie the doll and Trevor the dinosaur.

From BBC

I like to look at the dinosaur bones too.

From Los Angeles Times

She is mother to comedian and actress Ashley Storrie, the star of BBC Three comedy Dinosaur.

From BBC

He dismissed the idea of transgender children by talking about his 4-year-old son identifying as a dinosaur.

From Slate

Related Words

• antiquated
• archaic
• out-of-date
• outmoded