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)
Verb
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Meanwhile, as all of this is happening, Meredith is cutting up with the other ladies at the spa, without a care in the world.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
31 Dec. 2025 -
Ford is planning on cutting up to 1,000 roles in electric-vehicle production in Germany.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Bevel was horsing around with the Reverend James Orange and Andy Young in the courtyard under King's balcony, according to Orange.—
Gail Sheehy,
Vanity Fair,
20 Feb. 2026
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In April 2020, Iglesias shared a video of him horsing around with Lucy and Nicholas as the pair attempted to climb on his back for a ride.—
Andrea Wurzburger,
PEOPLE,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
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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
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Gisin hopes that by fooling around with measurements of these more exotic states, physicists will come to better understand the role of measurement in general.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
8 Aug. 2025
Verb
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On March 2—one day before debuting her new pageboy bob at Paris Fashion Week—Hadid made her grand entrance in a pair of straight-leg jeans that stop well above the ankle, showing off much of her beige crew sock and the entire tongue of her black loafers.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
7 Mar. 2026
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Nadella wrote in an October X post showing off the abiltiy to toggle between Anthropic and OpenAI models in Microsoft 365 Copilot.—
Jordan Novet,
CNBC,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
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By July that year, Kelly, this time playing for England, famously scored that penalty against Spain in the Euros final, securing the Lionesses their second Euros title in a row.—
Kati Chitrakorn,
CNN Money,
5 Mar. 2026
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Cross has not scored while playing eight minutes.—
Gary Bedore
March 4,
Kansas City Star,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Likewise, when the young men started acting up, Josephine Holt took a keen interest in her newspaper.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Jan. 2026
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If your trackpad is acting up, keyboard shortcuts can keep you productive without fighting the cursor.—
Ken Colburn,
AZCentral.com,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Guerin has a history of going straight to his final offer — not messing around.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
6 Mar. 2026
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Morgan had been messing around with a curveball, but didn’t actually throw it until a workout at Petco Park a week before the draft.—
Jeff Sanders,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
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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
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Orion Nebula Those viewing from a dark sky location may also notice a blurry patch of light hanging about 5 degrees below Orion's belt.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
14 Oct. 2025
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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 10 Mar. 2026.
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