gorilla
gorilla Lexical Profile
gorilla Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A powerfully built, herbivorous great ape native to the forests of central Sub-Saharan Africa, recognized as the largest living primate.
"The wildlife documentary captured a silverback gorilla leading his troop through the dense mountain vegetation."
A dominant, powerful, or highly influential entity or person; often used metaphorically to describe a market leader or an imposing, brutish individual.
"With billions of dollars in revenue, the multinational corporation is considered the 800-pound gorilla of the tech industry."
Word Nuance & Usage
Frequently confused with its homophone 'guerrilla', particularly in the phrase 'guerrilla warfare', which refers to irregular military tactics rather than the animal.
• Rhymes for gorilla
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from Greek 'Gorillai', described in a 5th-century BC account by Carthaginian navigator Hanno as a tribe of hairy women on the African coast. It was applied to the great ape in 1847 by American physician and missionary Thomas S. Savage.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.