monkey

verb

monkeyed; monkeying

transitive verb

: mimic, mock

intransitive verb

1

: to act in a grotesque or mischievous manner

2

a

: fool, trifle

—often used with around

he likes to monkey around with engines

b

: tamper

—usually used with with

don't monkey with the settings

Synonyms of monkey

• clown (around)
• horse around
• fool around
• cut up
• show off

Examples of monkey in a Sentence

stop monkeying around in the house or you'll break something

would rather just monkey around instead of doing work

Recent Examples on the Web

With supply running low toward the end of most evenings, savvy bun fanatics don’t monkey around, routinely calling ahead to request an extra skillet of rolls set aside just for them. —Valerie Demicheva and Flora Chang, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 July 2021

But this experiment isn't about monkeying around—this a real security and safety hazard, the researchers point out in a new paper. —Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 31 Jan. 2020

To make matters more confusing, Apple monkeyed around with the names of the new stuff. —Geoffrey A. Fowler, The Denver Post, 15 Sep. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1658, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Phrases Containing monkey

• a monkey on someone's back
• colobus monkey
• cynomolgus monkey
• get the monkey off one's back
• grease monkey
• green monkey
• howler monkey
• make a monkey out of
• monkey about
• monkey about with (something)
• monkey around
• monkey around with (something)
• monkey bars
• monkey business
• monkey jacket
• monkey on one's back
• monkey puzzle
• monkey with
• monkey wrench
• not give a monkey's
• owl monkey
• powder monkey
• proboscis monkey
• rhesus monkey
• sea monkey
• spider monkey
• squirrel monkey
• throw/hurl/toss a monkey wrench into
• woolly monkey
• woolly spider monkey

Rhymes for monkey

• chunky
• funky
• hunky
• junkie
• spunky

Kids Definition

monkey

1 of 2 noun

mon·​key ˈməŋ-kē 

plural monkeys

1

: any of a group of primate animals other than human beings that are furry and live in warm regions

especially : ones that are small and long-tailed as compared to the apes

2

: a ridiculous person

: fool

monkeyish

-kē-ish

adjective

monkey

2 of 2 verb

monkeyed; monkeying

1

: to act in a playful or mischievous manner

2

: meddle, tamper

don't monkey with the lawn mower

Medical Definition

monkey

noun

mon·​key ˈməŋ-kē 

: a nonhuman primate mammal with the exception usually of the lemurs and tarsiers

especially : any of the smaller longer-tailed primates as contrasted with the apes