anthropoid

American  

[an-thruh-poid] / ˈæn θrəˌpɔɪd /

adjective

1. resembling humans.

2. Anthropology, Zoology. belonging or pertaining to the group of primates characterized by a relatively flat face, dry nose, small immobile ears, and forward-facing eyes, comprising New World monkeys, Old World monkeys, and apes, including humans: these primates were formerly classified into their own suborder, Anthropoidea, which has been supplanted by the more inclusive suborder Haplorhini.

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noun

1. anthropoid ape.

anthropoid British  

/ ˈænθrəˌpɔɪd /

adjective

1. resembling man

2. resembling an ape; apelike

3. of or relating to the suborder Anthropoidea

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noun

1. any primate of the suborder Anthropoidea, including monkeys, apes, and man Compare prosimian

Other Word Forms

• anthropoidal adjective
• pseudoanthropoid adjective

Etymology

Origin of anthropoid

First recorded in 1825–35; anthropo-, + -oid ( def. )

Explanation

Next time you are in need of a subtle insult that will completely go over your oafish brother’s head, accuse him of being just barely anthropoid, or somewhat resembling a human. Anthropoid is formed from the Greek word for human being, anthrōpos and the ending -oid, meaning “resembling.” Anthropoid can describe fictional animals that look like humans, like the three bears in the Goldilocks story, standing upright and wearing their Sunday best. The word also can describe objects that have been decorated to have human features, such as an anthropoid mask with a painted-on face (there’s a good insult for your great-aunt who wears too much make-up).

Example Sentences

Hitherto, no specimen of anthropoid primates had been discovered in America.”

From Scientific American • Apr. 1, 2023

Before seeing them in person, I had always imagined the saguaro as an isolate: a green anthropoid giant, looming off in the sunset alone.

From New York Times • Oct. 6, 2022

Novelist Samuel Butler’s 1872 science-fiction classic Erewhon, for instance, features concerns about robotic superhuman intelligences that enslave their anthropoid architects, rendering them “affectionate machine-tickling aphids”.

From Nature • Oct. 1, 2019

The other anthropoid branch includes the Old World monkeys and great apes and evolved from Africa and Asia.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

The aids virus may well have jumped into the human race from African primates, from monkeys and anthropoid apes.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston