jackanapes

Also used as

jackanapes is also the plural of jackanape.

Examples of jackanapes in a sentence

• A fair sight we are; and had I but a rebeck or guitar at my back, and a jackanapes on my shoulder, we should seem as joyous a brace of strollers as ever touched string at a castle gate.1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume I, Edinburgh...
• […] I could see him climbing like a jackanapes, for that part was again very steep; […]1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Death of the Red Fox”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in...
• I beg to say, that I use those last expressions advisedly, sir, and not in the sense in which they are now used by Jackanapeses.1844 May, Charles Dickens, “Threatening Letter to Thomas Hood, from an Ancient Gentleman”, in B. W. Matz, editor, Miscellaneous Papers […]...
• Then I set the boy down as a conceited young jackanapes, which no doubt he was,—but so are a great many other young people of Ernest's age.1873–1884 (date written), Samuel Butler, chapter XXXVI, in R[ichard] A[lexander] Streatfeild, editor, The Way of All Flesh, London: Grant...

Synonyms of jackanapes

• brazenface
• cheeky chappie
• cheeky chops
• cheeky monkey
• minx
• saucebox
• agitator
• bad boy
• bad news
• bear

All synonyms of jackanapes

Forms of jackanapes

Origin of jackanapes

From Middle English iack napys, iac nape, iac napes (“derogatory nickname of the English military commander and statesman William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk (1396–1450)”), probably from Jacun or Jakin (“pet forms of the male name Jack”) + ape (“ape, monkey”) + -s (possibly modelled after surnames such as Hobbes and Jakkes), referring to Suffolk’s heraldic badge which was an ape’s chain and clog (“weight such as a block of wood or log attached to an animal to hinder motion”) (see the image, right). It is uncertain whether the word was first coined as a nickname for Suffolk (the earliest known uses), or to refer to an ape or an ape-like person. If the word was originally a nickname, some early uses of etymology 1 sense 2.1 (“person thought to behave like an ape or monkey”) may allude to Suffolk who was widely regarded as an upstart, having risen from the merchant class. In later uses, the middle element of the word was often treated as the indefinite article a or an, that is, as if the word meant “Jack, an ape”.

From jackanape + -s (suffix forming regular plurals of nouns).

Words formed from jackanapes

• jackanapery
• jackanapes coat
• jackanapish
• Jane-of-apes
• Johnanapes

Related words

• jackaninny

Questions about jackanapes

What does jackanapes mean?

Jackanapes means (A proper name for) an ape or monkey, especially a tame one kept for entertainment or as a pet.

How do you use jackanapes in a sentence?

A fair sight we are; and had I but a rebeck or guitar at my back, and a jackanapes on my shoulder, we should seem as joyous a brace of strollers as ever touched string at a castle gate.

What part of speech is jackanapes?

Jackanapes is a noun.

How do you pronounce jackanapes?

Jackanapes is pronounced /ˈd͡ʒækəneɪps/ (UK).

What is the plural of jackanapes?

The plural of jackanapes is jackanapeses.