A gorilla is the largest living primate, built for size and strength; a chimpanzee is smaller but famed for intelligence and tool use. If the animal is huge and powerfully built, think gorilla; if it is smaller and using a stick to fish for termites, think chimpanzee.
The core difference
Gorillas are the largest living primates, while chimpanzees are smaller great apes known for their intelligence.
- Gorilla — the largest living primate, a powerful ape native to the forests of Central Africa: The silverback gorilla stood guard over its troop.
- Chimpanzee — a highly intelligent great ape native to Africa, one of humanity's closest living relatives: Researchers have observed chimpanzees using tools to extract termites.
How to tell them apart
Size is the most obvious difference: the gorilla is the largest living primate, while the chimpanzee is considerably smaller. Chimpanzees are especially known for their intelligence and tool use, such as using sticks to extract termites, a behaviour that has made them a focus of research into how close their abilities are to our own.
Gorilla also has an informal sense outside biology, describing a large, physically intimidating man, especially one used as muscle, as in the pair of gorillas in suits guarding a VIP entrance.
