Word.ws English Dictionary

inner chimp

inner chimp noun: the emotional part of the human brain that can cause a person to act impulsively and without regard for consequences.

Noun

inner chimp (plural inner chimps)

  1. (derogatory, slang) The emotional part of the human brain that can cause a person to act impulsively and without regard for consequences.
    • again what we were a very long time ago-to rediscover our inner chimp-and that's not so demanding, really.1997, The New Yorker, volume 73, numbers 30-36, page 30
    • It appears the bonobo barcus' "inner chimp" is ooking and eeking in an attempt to deflect his allegation by thumping his chest and making demands where no demands need be met. You, bacus, have no cause to demand or request anything. You made an allegation, the onus of proof rests with you.2003 May 18, Todd Klondike, “stormhole on the job!”, in alt.mothersuperior (Usenet)

Examples of inner chimp in a sentence

  • However, the new insights do not discharge us from the responsibility to-in the spirit of temporality-realize more bonobo moments and tame our inner chimps!2015, Cees Jan Hamelink, Media and Conflict, Escalating Evil, page 145:
  • The Inner Chimp is the part of the brain, so the theory goes, that sometimes we can't control.2016, Mark Chapman, The Love of the Game, Parenthood, Sport and Me:
  • Not known what set lose^([sic]) its inner chimp, probably something related to food, tennis shows^([sic]) or cell phones.2018 February 28, Jesse, “Montana man 'beat a woman to death with a FRYING PAN and seriously injured two others”, in alt.france (Usenet):
  • The black, usually there to protect us in times of necessary fight or flight which requires the strongest to step forward, misfiring against its own community is the source of the inner chimp.2019, Lee Morgan, Standing and Not Falling, A Sorcerous Primer in Thirteen Moons:

Forms of inner chimp

pluralinner chimps

Questions about inner chimp

What does inner chimp mean?
Inner chimp means the emotional part of the human brain that can cause a person to act impulsively and without regard for consequences.
How do you use inner chimp in a sentence?
However, the new insights do not discharge us from the responsibility to-in the spirit of temporality-realize more bonobo moments and tame our inner chimps!
What part of speech is inner chimp?
Inner chimp is a noun.
What is the plural of inner chimp?
The plural of inner chimp is inner chimps.

Words near inner chimp in the dictionary

  1. inner cabinets
  2. inner cell mass
  3. inner cell masses
  4. inner child
  5. inner children
  6. inner chimp
  7. inner chimps
  8. inner circle
  9. inner circles
  10. inner cities
  11. inner city

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: inner chimp (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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