as in funning
wildly playful or mischievous behavior
all that monkeying was sure to end in someone or something getting hurt
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in ornery
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for monkeying
Adjective
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Image Our collective longing to connect with animals is evident in the viral popularity of animal celebrities on social media — who can resist Pesto the chubby baby king penguin, Hua Hua the panda or Moo Deng, the ornery baby pygmy hippo?—
Alexandra Alter,
New York Times,
23 Mar. 2025 -
Fitzgerald, 75, his daughter Heather Valdez, 53, and their team of family members, co-workers and an ornery parrot named Cisco have kept this wacky thrift-consignment-retail store afloat.—
Amanda Rosa,
Miami Herald,
14 Mar. 2025
Verb
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What sets Fay apart, too, is the harmonious amalgamation of characteristically Italian design with the sensibility of New England—and its earnest commitment not to appropriating or copying a certain aesthetic, but to embracing it authentically and blending it perfectly with Fay’s own design values.—
Caroline Reilly,
Robb Report,
3 Jan. 2025
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Over time, the tradition gained cultural significance, and many started copying it in the hopes of a prosperous year ahead.—
George Monastiriakos,
Newsweek,
31 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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In 1950, scientists deployed a virus called Myxoma to destroy the rascally rabbits.—
Bethany Brookshire,
Smithsonian Magazine,
8 Dec. 2022
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The Los Angeles Rams, starring as the rascally rabbit, defeated the slow-and-deliberate Cincinnati Bengals in a fascinating case study between completely opposite approaches to team-building.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Feb. 2022
Adjective
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These glassy encasements elevated each itty-bitty snapshot of kitschy urban ephemera (a taxi cab, a bodega coffee cup, a slice of pizza, a smiley-face plastic shopping bag) to a surprising elegance—undercut with impish humor.—
Marina Harss,
New Yorker,
4 Apr. 2025
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At least Elvis Costello’s legendary false start from ’78 was referenced, albeit by an impish Eddie Vedder, not Costello himself.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
15 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The sketch sees Sarah Sherman imitating Wood’s Chelsea, cartoonishly wide-eyed, donned in large false teeth and speaking in a thick accent.—
Claire Franken,
TVLine,
13 Apr. 2025
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The company uses data and AI learning to simulate attacks that go beyond just imitating an individual’s voice – like most modern sophisticated phishing attacks, the technology uses details about someone’s family, background, personality and more.—
Laya Neelakandan,
CNBC,
2 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Another aspect to note is that the AI didn’t ridicule me or otherwise play any tomfoolery about my need for assistance.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
13 Apr. 2025
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Another aspect to note is that the AI didn’t ridicule me or otherwise play any tomfoolery about my worries.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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In person, Wood is funny but sedate, speaking in a deadpan carried along by a prankish undercurrent.—
Ismail Muhammad,
New York Times,
20 Feb. 2025
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Fuchs put a prankish spin on the descending octaves that tootle above the reprise of the symphony’s solemn opening.—
Alex Ross,
The New Yorker,
9 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Wells could be playful, knavish, and his tone here is one of urgency and optimism about the distribution of information.—
BostonGlobe.com,
BostonGlobe.com,
30 July 2021
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The same people who are now telling us that only Republican-voting obscurantists, ignorant deplorables and knavish right-wing media pundits are raising doubts about the vaccine would have been oozing skepticism.—
Gerard Baker,
WSJ,
12 July 2021
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Cite this Entry
“Monkeying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monkeying. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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