anteater
noun
Simple meaning
Any of several animals of South and Central America, in the suborder Vermilingua.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
anteeterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈæntitɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Any of several animals of South and Central America, in the suborder Vermilingua, which are noted for eating ants and termites which they catch with their long sticky tongues, including giant anteater and lesser anteater (also known as collared anteater).
Any of several tropical American mammals of the family Myrmecophagidae which lack teeth and feed on ants and termites
A burrowing monotreme mammal covered with spines and having a long snout and claws for hunting ants and termites; native to New Guinea
Any of some other not closely related species that feed with ants, including pangolin (scaly anteater), echidna (spiny anteater), aardvark (African anteater) and numbat (banded anteater).
Toothless mammal of southern Africa and Asia having a body covered with horny scales and a long snout for feeding on ants and termites
Small Australian marsupial having long snout and strong claws for feeding on termites; nearly extinct
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: Any of several animals of South and Central America, in the suborder Vermilingua, which are noted for eating ants and termites which they catch with their long sticky tongues, including giant anteater and lesser anteater (also known as collared anteater).
Used this way, anteater is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- spiny anteater , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: any of several animals of South and Central America
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “anteater” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary in short rounds that draw from words you've learned and saved.
Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.