1
as in addiction
a physiological need for certain drugs
I've got this monkey on my back, and going to detox is the only way to get it off
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in devil
an appealingly mischievous person
come back here, you little monkey!
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of monkey
Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
Gen Z is 'monkey barring' — not cheating.
—Charles Trepany, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
Michael Haag, Dallas News, 10 Oct. 2022
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. Ettan.
—Valerie Demicheva and Flora Chang, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 July 2021
See All Example Sentences for monkey
Noun
The final monkey was spotted near a residence east of the crash site and then tranquilized by wildlife contractors working with the agency.
—Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
Gen Z is 'monkey barring' — not cheating.
—Charles Trepany, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
Verb
The Bears will be prepared for the environment, but getting that Morgantown monkey off their back will take a lot more than imagined.
—Michael Haag, Dallas News, 10 Oct. 2022
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. Ettan.
—Valerie Demicheva and Flora Chang, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 July 2021
See All Example Sentences for monkey
Recent Examples of Synonyms for monkey
Noun
-
Many of these arrestees have long histories of addiction and significant health and mental health challenges.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Other solicitations came out months behind schedule, leaving groups with a few weeks to put together complicated applications for multimillion-dollar awards , including for Alzheimer's care, addiction recovery, senior support and chronic disease management.—
Amy Maxmen,
ABC News,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Its depictions of dancing devils and witches’ sabbaths are supposed to scare viewers straight, but writer-director Benjamin Christensen is also sympathetic towards the plight of medieval women persecuted for witchcraft.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
-
The anime series follows a young man who can demolish fellow devils via a pullstring in his chest that transforms parts of his body into chainsaws.—
Jack Smart,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
More importantly, this origin story of a movie and a movement apes the joie de moviemaking and the jazzy looseness of the original to an absolutely amazing degree, replicating an off-the-cuff feeling that’s more than a second-hand buzz.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Critics accused him of aping Farage’s rhetoric and warned that Labour could lose votes to the left in trying to court the right.—
Christian Edwards,
CNN Money,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Doug Rebout, a soybean farmer and the president of the Wisconsin Soybean Association, said that using soybeans in this foam is one way to lessen the industry's dependence on foreign trade.—
Laura Schulte,
jsonline.com,
11 Nov. 2025
-
There is no scientific evidence to support the notion that people develop a physical dependence on magnesium supplements.—
Mira Miller,
Verywell Health,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The hilarious hijinks that ensue are centered on a rugby-playing rascal whose initial interests in pulling chicks and working get-rich-quick schemes give way to a lifelong love of writing poetry in the post-Soviet-occupation era of the 1990s.—
Courtney Howard,
Variety,
30 Oct. 2025
-
And Eli was, at times, a bit of a rascal.—
David Kamp,
New Yorker,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The brand announced the drop on Instagram with a campaign video parodying 1970s game shows.—
Catherine Santino,
PEOPLE,
5 Nov. 2025
-
In its Saturday cold open, the sketch show parodied the final New York City mayoral debate, with Miles Teller as Andrew Cuomo, Ramy Youssef as Zohran Mamdani and Shane Gillis as Curtis Sliwa.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Installing strong antivirus software adds real-time protection against phishing, unsafe links, and rogue apps.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
7 Nov. 2025
-
And the details include a rogue’s gallery of characters who together underscore the whack-a-mole challenge of combating money laundering.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
In the past, literary and pop-culture-themed rooms have popped in hotels around the country — including designs that mimic Monica and Rachel's Friends apartment, an all-pink Barbie's Dream House room, a winter wonderland from Elf and a chocolate fantasy from Wonka.—
Sonal Dutt,
PEOPLE,
10 Nov. 2025
-
In a series of high-pressure, high-temperature experiments designed to mimic the fiery beginnings of a young planet, scientists recreated the extreme environment where such worlds' molten rock and hydrogen gas interact.—
Sharmila Kuthunur,
Space.com,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Monkey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monkey. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share