monkeying (around)

verb

present participle of monkey (around)
1
as in clowning (around)
to engage in attention-getting playful or boisterous behavior stop monkeying around in the house or you'll break something

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in fiddling (around)
to spend time in aimless activity would rather just monkey around instead of doing work

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for monkeying (around)
  1. cutting up
  2. playing
  3. horsing around
  4. fooling around
  5. showing off
  6. messing around
  7. acting up
  8. hanging about
Verb
  • One reason being that the videographer kept cutting up [a slab of] meat for the castle owner.
    — Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Cut the half into thin wedges by making ½-inch slices lengthwise through the onion, cutting up to, but not through, the root end.
    — Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of cutting up
Verb
  • Each has the perspective of attending East Side schools, playing football and returning to teach and coach at the high school.
    — Tom Strong, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026
  • The main reason the Giants have a chance to win every week, though, despite all their injuries and heart-stopping endings, is that Jameis Winston is playing well as their starting quarterback.
    — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of playing
Verb
  • Also, don’t get too out of control horsing around with friends in the water.
    — John Natale, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2026
  • After horsing around, peruse the quilt displays, agriculture exhibits and arts-and-crafts competitions.
    — Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of horsing around
Verb
  • Zeus did not approve of his daughter fooling around with this mortal roughneck hunter and put out a hit on Orion.
    — Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2026
  • The transition was rough for Ansari, who wasn’t fluent in English and often got in trouble for fooling around in school.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Definition of fooling around
Verb
  • The 54-year-old, who reportedly earned a $16 million salary in 2025, launched his own YouTube channel last week, showing off the sprawling virtual city.
    — Preston Fore, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2026
  • The shawl left much of Klum's torso exposed, showing off her toned abs and slim figure.
    — Lori A Bashian, FOXNews.com, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of showing off
Verb
  • There will be no more messing around with draggy eye pencils or the emperor’s new eye shadows.
    — Elizabeth Siegel, Allure, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Both of France’s sons seem to appreciate imaginative play over messing around with action figures, something that makes perfect sense given France’s own love for the arts.
    — Marah Eakin, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of messing around
Verb
  • But sleep was hard to come by, with her daughter’s asthma acting up and the anxiety of the hearing the following day.
    — Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Baye continued acting up until 2023.
    — Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 18 Apr. 2026
Definition of acting up
Verb
  • President James Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, died by hanging about five months after he was convicted of murder.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 17 June 2026
  • In 2019, city employees began hanging about 500 trick-or-treat pumpkin buckets in the trees on Main Street every October.
    — Elliott Harrell, Travel + Leisure, 18 Oct. 2025
Definition of hanging about
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.

Browse Nearby Words

monkeying
monkeying (around)
monkeying (with)
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Cite this Entry

“Monkeying (around).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monkeying%20%28around%29. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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