Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A conceited or impudent person.
- n. A mischievous child.
- n. Archaic A monkey or an ape.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A monkey; an ape.
- n. Hence A coxcomb; a ridiculous, impertinent fellow.
- n. In mining, the small guide-pulleys of a whim.
Wiktionary
- n. A monkey
- n. An impudent or mischievous person
- n. Plural form of jackanape.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A monkey; an ape.
- n. A coxcomb; an impertinent or conceited fellow.
WordNet 3.0
- n. someone who is unimportant but cheeky and presumptuous
Etymologies
- From Middle English Jack Napis, nickname of William de la Pole, Fourth Earl and First Duke of Suffolk (1396-1450).
Examples
“The Countess might accuse him, but Harry never had the ambition to make people think him that: his natural tendency was the reverse: and he objected to the application of the word jackanapes to himself, and was ready to contest the fact of people having that opinion at all.”
“It would be almost too easy to pull information out of this unctuous jackanapes.”
“I, for one, want my effing money back from these two faced jackanapes.”
“But do you realize that I would be looked upon as the most foolish jackanapes in the South Seas if I took a young girl like you in with me here on Berande?" he asked.”
“Back to the stinky subway and cranky Park Avenue jackanapes giving us dirty looks because we're walking too slow.”
“Looks like Phelps and his ratfuck family of bigoted jackanapes are coming to my town.”
“I unlocked my door and discovered the overexcited crone, grinning like a jackanapes, waving a piece of paper in her withered paw.”
“Thank you, John, for being the hub around which has collected an exceptional group of miscreants, jackanapes and buffoons, to which I am delighted to be an adjunct member.”
“Oh, and thanks, y'buncha jackanapes, for letting me run around half-naked, imploring "everybody into the pool," when y'all knew damn well it was in the neighbors' yard.”
“I was completely repulsed by the press jackanapes sitting around braying with laughter at that stupid Bush double.”
Think Progress » Fox News Slams Colbert: ‘Inappropriate,’ ‘Over the Line,’ ‘Not Very Funny’
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘jackanapes’.
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Nincompoopery
Words that clatter and tumble
nincompoop, pettyfoggery, gaberlunzie, cattywampus, weisenheimer, katzenjammer, hecklephone, loblolly, carriwitchet, flibbertyjibbet, hornswoggle, thimblerigger and 159 more...
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Coal Mining Terms
Coal mining has engendered fascinating subcultures in industry, labor, music, folklore, environment and energy. It has a rich vocabulary as well, and I've encountered some gorgeous mining words. I...
firedamp, scrip, bituminous, anthracite, company store, blackdamp, brattice, bug dust, tipple, whitedamp, float dust, fly ash and 128 more...
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looked up
Words I've come across while reading and looked up in the dictionary.
deesis, pendentive, revetment, aedicule, stemma, patera, ephod, entrepot, corbel, exedra, volute, archivolt and 1268 more...
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Papageno's Words, Pt. I
hobbledehoy, absquatulate, chthonic, prolix, ululate, internecine, verisimilitude, animadversion, concupiscence, vertiginous, cucullate, lucubrate and 1554 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1466 more...
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librarygoblin's words
crystal, ghost, mist, snow, labyrinth, citadel, tomb, mystery, arcane, conundrum, echo, dynamo and 389 more...
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A Second Helping of Random Palavery
A continuation of my first list, "A Serving of Random Palavery". Like the first, this list contains words that catch my attention, ring happily in my ears, are fun to speak, or are interesting to ...
bouffoir, mossberry, webisode, barquette, brochidodromous, festooned brochid..., eucamptodromy, eucamptodromous, loment, keenings, moss-trooper, mosstrooping and 138 more...
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Odd-Ball
Just plain fun to say and wonder about their origins.
rapscallion, ramahanukwanzmas, cockamamie, nincompoop, hemidemisemiquaver, antiinterdenomina..., cattywampus, ragamuffin, tatterdemalion, blunderbuss, brobdingnagian, tintinnabulation and 126 more...
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Another day, a whole nother list
rump, spot on, flank, outflank, rank, bedeck, leafhopper, apocope, academic, set-to, point of no return, cloy and 210 more...
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ashton's Words
genocide, boingy, umwelt, zeitgeist, fungible, vorpal, spawn, discordian, fnord, surreptitious, xyzzy, corruption and 122 more...
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Kaichi's Wordie Darlings, or I'm a Logophile an...
persnickety, discombobulated, braggadoccio, anthropomorphous, antelucan, confluxible, anomalous, poseur, gallivant, poppycock, falderal, gewgaw and 705 more...
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Ada, or Ardor ~Vladmir Nabokov
granoblastically, cicerone, aerocable, anachronistically, parvis, athwart, mnemonic, squitteroo, nusshaus, edelweiss, intermezzo, cabriole and 183 more...
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old faves
ones I already liked
vacuole, organelle, debauchle, voluptuous, spry, cattywampus, obscure, occlude, occult, celtic, voracious, ardently and 133 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2707 more...
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some of my favorites
some of my favorite words
tintinnabulation, lascivious, ontology, chthonic, eldritch, squamous, verity, specificity, euphony, cacophony, therianthrope, morbidity and 157 more...
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perhapsolutely's Words
polyradiculoneuro..., abulia, abubble, abscission, abaft, zareba, abatis, abigail, abiogenesis, ablate, ablaut, abo and 1705 more...
(Nickname, Jack Napes) Perhaps first applied and referring to Wm. de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, (15th cent.), whose badge was a clog and chain like that of a tame ape.
A conceited or impertinent fellow; a pert child. Jan 11, 2009