reptilian

UK: /rɛpˈtɪliən/ US: /rɛpˈtɪliən/ ,(rep til′ē ən, -til′yən)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

rep•til•i•an  (rep til′ē ən, -til′yən), adj. 

1. Reptiles belonging or pertaining to the Reptilia.
2. groveling, debased, or despicable;
   contemptible.
3. mean;
   treacherous;
   harmful.

n. 

4. Reptiles a reptile.

• Neo-Latin Reptili(a) reptiles (plural of rēptile, neuter of Late Latin rēptilis; see reptile) + -an
• 1840–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

reptilian / rɛpˈtɪlɪən/ adjective

1. of, relating to, resembling, or characteristic of reptiles
2. mean or treacherous; contemptible: reptilian behaviour

noun

1. a less common name for reptile

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

rep•tile /ˈrɛptɪl, -taɪl/   n. [countable]

1. Reptiles any air-breathing animal having a backbone, a heart with three chambers, a completely bony skeleton, and a covering of dry scales or horny plates:
   Reptiles include snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles.

rep•til•i•an /rɛpˈtɪliən/  adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

rep•tile  (rep′til, -tīl), n. 

1. Reptiles any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia, comprising the turtles, snakes, lizards, crocodilians, amphisbaenians, tuatara, and various extinct members including the dinosaurs.
2. (loosely) any of various animals that crawl or creep.
3. a groveling, mean, or despicable person.

adj. 

4. Reptiles of or resembling a reptile; creeping or crawling.
5. groveling, mean, or despicable.

• Late Latin rēptile, noun, nominal use of neuter of rēptilis creeping, equivalent. to Latin rēpt(us) (past participle of rēpere to creep) + -ilis -ile
• Middle English reptil 1350–1400

rep′tile•like′, adj. 
rep•ti•loid  (rep′tl oid′), adj.