Illustration of orangutan
orangutan
noun
orang·u·tan
ə-ˈraŋ-ə-ˌtaŋ 
-ˈraŋ-gə-,
-ˌtan
: any of several largely herbivorous arboreal anthropoid apes (Pongo pygmaeus, P. abelii, and P. tapanuliensis) of Borneo and Sumatra that are about ²/₃ as large as the gorilla and have brown skin, long sparse reddish-brown hair, and very long arms
Examples of orangutan in a Sentence
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All that and an orangutan that loves to read on today’s episode of CNN 10.
Weekly News Quiz
What special tree connects Washington D.C. and Japan?
—
CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2025
Trump sued Maher in 2013 for $5 million after Maher made a crass joke about Trump’s mother and an orangutan.
—Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 31 Mar. 2025
After surviving the shipwreck, Pi’s joy, humor and despair turn on a dime as his lifeboat is beset by surviving animals — a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan named Orange Juice, and our Royal Bengal tiger.
—John Wenzel, The Denver Post, 20 Mar. 2025
When a female orangutan is killed by loggers on the Indonesian island of Borneo, 11-year-old Kéria (Babette De Coster) and her father Mutang (Benoît Poelvoorde) adopt her adorable offspring and name it Oshi.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025
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CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2025
Trump sued Maher in 2013 for $5 million after Maher made a crass joke about Trump’s mother and an orangutan.
—Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 31 Mar. 2025
After surviving the shipwreck, Pi’s joy, humor and despair turn on a dime as his lifeboat is beset by surviving animals — a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan named Orange Juice, and our Royal Bengal tiger.
—John Wenzel, The Denver Post, 20 Mar. 2025
When a female orangutan is killed by loggers on the Indonesian island of Borneo, 11-year-old Kéria (Babette De Coster) and her father Mutang (Benoît Poelvoorde) adopt her adorable offspring and name it Oshi.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for orangutan
Cite this Entry
“Orangutan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orangutan. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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