Adjacent Words

Jackanapes definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

JACK'ANAPES, n. [jack and ape.] A monkey, an ape.
1. A coxcomb; an impertinent fellow.
A young upstart jackanapes.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: someone who is unimportant but cheeky and presumptuous [syn: whippersnapper, jackanapes, lightweight]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English Jack Napis, nickname for William de la Pole died 1450 duke of Suffolk Date: 1526 1. monkey, ape 2. a. an impudent or conceited fellow b. a saucy or mischievous child

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. archaic 1 a pert or insolent fellow. 2 a mischievous child. 3 a tame monkey. Etymology: earliest as Jack Napes (1450): supposed to refer to the Duke of Suffolk, whose badge was an ape's clog and chain

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Jackanapes Jack"a*napes, n. [For Jack o' (= of) apes; prop., a man who exhibits apes.] [Written also jackanape.] 1. A monkey; an ape. --Shak. 2. A coxcomb; an impertinent or conceited fellow. A young upstart jackanapes. --Arbuthnot.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. [Written also Jackanape.] 1. Monkey. See ape. 2. Beau, fop, dandy. See jack-a-dandy.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

An ape; a pert, ugly, little fellow.