silverback

American  

[sil-ver-bak] / ˈsɪl vərˌbæk /

noun

1. an older male gorilla, usually the leader of a troop, whose hairs along the back turn gray with age.

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silverback British  

/ ˈsɪlvəˌbæk /

noun

1. an older male gorilla with grey hair on its back

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Etymology

Origin of silverback

silver + back ¹

Example Sentences

This is the second offspring of 31-year-old N’djia and silverback Kelly, 38, whose daughter Angela in 2020 became the first gorilla born at the L.A.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2025

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the average silverback gorilla weighs around 30 stone or 420 pounds; the kids weighed in at a combined 477 pounds.

From Salon • Jun. 1, 2025

An admirer called him “the silverback gorilla of nerds.”

From New York Times • Apr. 3, 2024

Both babies were sired by Kiburi, a 19-year-old silverback brought to the zoo from Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands as part of a conservation breeding program to help preserve the critically endangered gorilla subspecies.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 25, 2024

I haven’t had much practice being a real gorilla, much less a silverback.

From "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate