mapinguari

1 9.9

A large, slow animal like a sloth that people say lives in the Amazon rainforest

noun

Literature

: mapinguari

In local folklore, the mapinguari is described as a sloth-like creature that can stand upright and is often associated with mysterious happenings in the forest.

Examples

Is that a mapinguari over there?
Legends tell of the mapinguari, a mysterious creature feared and respected by indigenous Amazonian peoples.
Expeditions into the rainforest have been launched in search of the elusive mapinguari.
Some researchers believe that sightings of the mapinguari might be based on memories of extinct giant sloths.
The mapinguari is a fascinating creature in Amazonian folklore.
The locals believe that the mapinguari prowls the dense jungles of the Amazon, searching for food and making eerie sounds at night.
According to stories passed down through generations, encountering a mapinguari is said to bring both fear and excitement to those who venture into its habitat.

Surface Forms

mapinguari singular

mapinguaris plural

Etymology

Mapinguari comes from the Amazonian Tupi-Guarani language and was the local name for a scary forest being told about in jungle stories. A helpful way to remember it is to think of it as the rainforest's mysterious 'big beast', which is why today mapinguari means a legendary, large, sloth-like creature of the Amazon.