dinosaur
English · Thesaurus
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dinosaur
- /ˈdaɪnəsɔː(ɹ)/ UK
- /ˈdaɪnəsoɹ/ US
- /ˈdʌɪnəsɔːɹ/
Where it comes from
From Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós, “terrible, awesome, mighty, fearfully great”) + σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard, reptile”). Coined as Dinosaur(s) and Dinosauria by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1841/1842.
noun dinosaurs · deinosaur · Dinosaur · dinosaurus
-
Those animals of the clade Dinosauria that existed during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and are now extinct.
Despite what some cartoons portray, no humans were around when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
Similar: non-avian dinosaur
- Any of the animals belonging to the clade Dinosauria, including its sole surviving lineage: Neornithes. Many people love their backyard birds, but some of us may not realize that those feathery friends are also literally dinosaurs, in a biologically accurate sense of that word.
- Any extinct reptile, not necessarily belonging to Dinosauria, that existed between about 230 million and 65 million years ago, as well as the stem-mammal Dimetrodon. Pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, icthyosaurs — I don't know, they're all dinosaurs to me!
-
Someone or something that is very old or old-fashioned, especially someone who is not willing to change and adapt.
She may be a tough old bird, but it's a mistake to write her off as a dinosaur; you do so at your own risk.
Similar: fossil, old fart, fuddy-duddy
- Anything no longer in common use or practice. I couldn't believe it when I saw the equipment that they were still using. Those machines were all dinosaurs, but they were busily cranking out production.
Similar: dinosaur
adjective more dinosaur · most dinosaur · deinosaur · Dinosaur · dinosaurus
- Very old or old-fashioned. With this outfit, I would head for the Fontainbleau, or any of the other dinosaur hotels of Miami Beach to sip frozen daiquiris.
verb dinosaurs · dinosauring · dinosaured · deinosaur · Dinosaur
- To treat something as outdated, obsolete, or no longer worth keeping.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: ceratopsian, saurischian, ornithischian, park, jurassic, hung, exhibition, dinosaurus, dinosauriform, dinosauromorph, non-avian dinosaur, spinosaurid, dicraeosaurid, ornithoscelidan, dinocephalian, dinosaurologist
noun
Similar: dinosaur
Translations
Every language
verb prehistoric reptile
| Español | dinosaurio |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 공룡 gongnyong |
| 日本語 | 恐竜 kyōryū |
| 中文 | 恐龍 /恐龙 kǒnglóng |
| हिन्दी | डायनासोर ḍāynāsor, डायनोसोर ḍāynosor, डाइनोसोर ḍāinosor, डाइनोसर ḍāinosar, दीनोसाउर dīnosāur, भीमसरट bhīmsaraṭ |
| Português | dinossauro |
| Français | dinosaure |
| Deutsch | Dinosaurier, Dinosaurus, Dino, Saurier |
| Italiano | dinosauro |
| Ελληνικά | δεινόσαυρος deinósavros |
| Română | dinozaur |
| Русский | диноза́вр dinozávr |
| Tiếng Việt | khủng long |
| العربية | دِينَاصَوْر dīnāṣawr |
| עברית | דִּינוֹזָאוּר dinozaur |
Talk about this word "dinosaur." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dinosaur. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. dinosaur. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dinosaur "dinosaur." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dinosaur.Cite this
@misc{dinosaur_2026,
title = {dinosaur},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dinosaur},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
