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Definition of "jackanapes" []

  • A conceited or impudent person. (noun)
  • A mischievous child. (noun)
  • Archaic A monkey or an ape. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "jackanapes" in a sentence
  • "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."
  • "I shan't pick up the 'jackanapes' or the 'rascal.'"
  • "It would be almost too easy to pull information out of this unctuous jackanapes."