as in funning
wildly playful or mischievous behavior
all that monkeying was sure to end in someone or something getting hurt
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in prankish
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for monkeying
Adjective
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And then there’s Whitehead’s own work: erudite, prankish, experimental in a literal sense—the act of listening is sometimes the experiment.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Nov. 2025 -
And within the prankish world created by the production, not everyone was in on the joke.—
David Renard,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
Verb
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Trying To Avoid The Generic However, having minimal buttons is hardly an original design strategy when so many EVs have followed this route (aping Tesla).—
James Morris,
Forbes.com,
17 Jan. 2026
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The failure of Hollywood’s first take on Godzilla, which reimagined this towering icon into a skittering lizard that was clearly aping more from Jurassic Park than any of the kaiju films that came before it, positioned the start of Godzilla’s third era as something of a return to form.—
James Grebey,
Vulture,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Cole follows up with a joking request to appear on an interlude on the forthcoming project, then asks whether West could send him a care package of clothes — which West agrees to — before exiting the stage.—
Jessica Lynch,
Billboard,
28 Dec. 2025
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Our poll’s options include a joking reference to Dan Marino.—
Greg Cote
December 20,
Miami Herald,
20 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Sometimes he’d be sent out to deal with the more ornery guests in an effort to calm them.—
Stephanie Breijo,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Jan. 2026
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With its abundance of concrete, startling interior views, and play of deep shadows, the design invokes the ornery inventiveness of Kahn and Paul Rudolph, combined with the corporate sleekness of MoMA’s most recent iterations by Yoshio Taniguchi and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Instead of compressing at the pixel level, the algorithm appears to be copying and manipulating objects from multiple images, while maintaining a degree of visual continuity.—
Alex Reisner,
The Atlantic,
9 Jan. 2026
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Rather than chasing trends or copying what already works elsewhere, Salomon is investing in research and testing to guide their development process.—
Cory Smith,
Outside,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The clowning isn’t over just yet, though.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
13 Jan. 2026
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Art, meanwhile, occupies a lonely table in the pizzeria and tries to put on his best clowning act for the two women.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Yet Kunken gives the character a roguish charisma, in his tireless defense of American freedom, that Biniaz couldn’t help observing was arguably fictional.—
Ben McGrath,
New Yorker,
24 Nov. 2025
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Autumn Springs is populated by finely wrought individuals, led by the indomitable Rose and her roguish friend Miller.—
Neil McRobert,
Vulture,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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By mimicking these parameters, Zhu created an AI model, dubbed TongTong, which exists in a virtual city with her own drives, motivations, and limited autonomy.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
27 Jan. 2026
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So the team put it to the test, mimicking real-world treatment and wear and tear.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
27 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Monkeying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monkeying. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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