ape
Americannoun
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Anthropology, Zoology. any member of the superfamily Hominoidea, the two extant branches of which are the lesser apes (gibbons) and the great apes (humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans).
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(loosely) any primate except humans.
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an imitator; mimic.
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Informal. a big, ugly, clumsy person.
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Disparaging and Offensive. (used as a slur against a member of a racial or ethnic minority group, especially a Black person.)
verb (used with object)
adjective
noun
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any of various primates, esp those of the family Pongidae , in which the tail is very short or absent See anthropoid ape See also great ape
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(not in technical use) any monkey
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an imitator; mimic
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informal a coarse, clumsy, or rude person
verb
Sensitive Note
See simianization.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has apedperfect 3rd person singular
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have apedperfect
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has been apingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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apingparticiple
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have been apingperfect progressive
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is apingprogressive 3rd person singular
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apessingular 3rd person
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am apingprogressive 1st person singular
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are apingprogressive
Past
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had apedperfect
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had been apingperfect progressive
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was apingprogressive singular
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apedsimple
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apedparticiple
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were apingprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of ape
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English apa; cognate with Old Saxon apo, Old Norse api, Old High German affo ( German Affe ); further origin uncertain
Explanation
To ape someone is to imitate them, often in a mocking way. Most people don't like being aped. To ape is to imitate, but it can mean a few different things. One type of aping is to blatantly imitate something or someone in every way. That's considered a bad thing because it's so unoriginal — it's a rip-off. Another kind of aping is like a caricature — to ape in this way is a way of making fun or spoofing someone. Either way, you probably don't want to be accused of aping.
Vocabulary lists containing ape
A Vocabulary Bestiary: Animals That Behave as Verbs
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Amazing Animals, A-Z
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Amazing Animals, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The TV naturalist remembers his first trip to see gorillas in Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains in 1978—and checks in on the descendants of an ape he met then—in this involving documentary.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
Speaking in a Nature on PBS documentary, Sir David Attenborough spoke of a huge ape that existed between six and five million years ago, the gigantopithecus.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
The researchers say the ability to understand pretend objects appears to fall within the cognitive range of at least one enculturated ape.
From Science Daily • Feb. 10, 2026
But there are no ape characters in the Lion King.
From Slate • Feb. 6, 2026
I thump my chest like an ape and smile so big, it feels like my face is splitting in two.
From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
