noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An insectivorous primate of the family Tarsiidae, having very large eyes and long feet, native mainly to several islands of Southeast Asia.
2. 2
   nocturnal arboreal primate of Indonesia and the Philippines having huge eyes and digits ending in pads to facilitate climbing; the only primate that spurns all plant material as food living entirely on insects and small vertebrates wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

tarsiid

Example

More examples

"As a child, I was made fun of and nicknamed a "tarsier"."

Etymology

From French tarsier, from Latin tarsus, from Ancient Greek ταρσός (tarsós, “wickerwork mat"; "broad, flat surface"”).

Related phrases

Horsfield's tarsiersoutheast asia

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.