More Animal Adjectives

Sometimes that cloud just looks like a mouse, or maybe that car is as big as an elephant! Here are a few more words that you can use to liken anything to animals.

Make sure to check out our first list of Animal Adjectives
12 words 5789 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. porcine
    relating to pigs or swine
    France is counting on China to catapult its bacon into the world's porcine pantheon. Wall Street Journal (Apr 2, 2014)
  2. caprine
    being or pertaining to or resembling a goat or goats
    Like the chamois, it has a gland below and behind the ear, the secretion of which has a caprine odor. Various
    You can also use the word hircine.
  3. aquiline
    curved down like an eagle's beak
    Dressed in his habitual black, he had the same aquiline profile as always, the same irrepressible eyebrows. New York Times (May 28, 2014)
  4. apian
    relating to or having the characteristics of bees
    It quickly became clear that in its basic facts, the novel sticks closely to real-world apian biology and behavior. Washington Post
  5. avian
    pertaining to or characteristic of birds
    The company recorded six avian deaths last year: three eagles, one raven, one crow and one grouse. US News (Jun 13, 2014)
  6. cervine
    relating to or resembling deer
    It was a magnificent cervine army with white banners, and I shall never look upon its like again. Sears, George Washington
  7. elephantine
    of great mass; huge and bulky
    The egg, likewise, is elephantine — a foot long and nearly nine inches in diameter. Washington Post (Apr 15, 2013)
  8. feline
    of or relating to cats
    In a feline manner, he climbed on top of various people in the class as they did poses, testing our stability. New York Times (Jun 19, 2014)
    This word is often used as a noun, meaning simply cat (domestic or big).
  9. lupine
    of or relating to or characteristic of wolves
    Leyzaola is forty-nine, trim and athletic, with a strong, slightly lupine face. Slate (Jun 23, 2012)
  10. taurine
    of or relating to or resembling a bull
    He was of choicest pedigree, but the utter strangeness of the scene turned his taurine wits. Bates, Katharine Lee
    Taurine, as a noun, also often refers to a chemical occurring naturally in some animals.
  11. murine
    of or relating to or transmitted by a member of the family Muridae (rats and mice)
    You might object that mice and men are not the same and that studying the murine mind is different from studying the human mind. Scientific American (Jul 26, 2011)
  12. cetacean
    relating to whales, dolphins, and other aquatic mammals
    Does that mean it’s more like thrash metal than a love song – perhaps some form of cetacean male bonding? New York Times (Mar 20, 2012)
    This can be a noun too. Alternatively, you could use cetaceous, which is only ever an adjective.
Created on Mon Aug 04 10:47:13 EDT 2014 (updated Mon Aug 04 12:04:15 EDT 2014)

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