jackanapes

1. (obsolete) (A proper name for) an ape or monkey, especially a tame one kept for entertainment or as a pet.Examples: "To iettynge, to iaggynge, and to full of iapes; / To mockynge, to mowynge, to lye a iackenapes: […]"; "He grynnes and he gapis, / As it were iack napis."; "Can Iack an Ape be merry vvhen his clog is at his heele."obsolete

2. (by extension)Examples: "I [Aye], quoth Jack a napes, by these ten bones, / Nothing happens amiss to a præparid minde, / Tis good philosophy, katt will to kinde."; "VVas there euer man had ſuch lucke? vvhen I kiſt the Iacke vpon an vp-caſt, to be hit avvay? I had a hundred pound on't: and then a vvhoreſon Iacke-an-apes muſt take me vp for ſvvearing, as if I borrovved mine oathes of him, and might not ſpend them at my pleaſure."; "Now, she hath favoured, doth favour, and will favour, this jack-an-ape,—for what good part about him I know not, save that as one noble lady will love a messan dog, and another a screaming popinjay, and a third a Barbary ape, so doth it please our noble dame to set her affections upon this stray elf of a page, […]"Synonyms: brazenface, cheeky chappie, cheeky chops, cheeky monkey, jackanapes, malapert, minx, sauceboxbroadlydatedderogatory

3. (by extension)Examples: "I wyl rather haue these knees pared of, then I wil kneele to yonder iacknapes (meaning the rode) God healpe me I am borne to trouble and aduersity in this world."broadlyderogatoryobsoleterare

4. (by extension)broadlyobsolete