monkeyish

adjective

Definition of monkeyishnext
as in prankish

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for monkeyish
  1. prankish
  2. uncontrollable
  3. roguish
  4. elfish
  5. knavish
  6. wrongheaded
  7. impish
  8. waggish
Adjective
  • The catastrophies that our heroine averts are awfully small potatoes — a bulldozer running amok, an amusement park ride speeding out of control, some prankish teenagers scheming to turn the girl’s shower into a steambath.
    — Arthur Knight, HollywoodReporter, 25 June 2026
  • Angela Balogh Calin’s costumes prepare the way for Ionesco’s prankish jokes.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
Definition of prankish
Adjective
  • When an ocelot begins prowling the neighborhood and a mysterious green light appears in the sky, Bernardo is forced to confront the harsh, uncontrollable nature of growing up.
    — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 13 July 2026
  • McCall tried to create a contrast between the locations, with the Cady clan’s surroundings having an overgrown quality reflecting the uncontrollable insanity at the heart of the family.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 10 July 2026
Definition of uncontrollable
Adjective
  • The movie follows the life of feisty belle Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), from growing up on a plantation to her love affairs, including with roguish Rhett Butler (Clark Gable).
    — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • The main Palm Dog went to Yuri, the roguish stray at the heart of Chilean director Dominga Sotomayor’s La Perra, premiering in Directors’ Fortnight.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
Definition of roguish
Adjective
  • Santa’s elves are generous souls, not elfish.
    — Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Dec. 2025
  • But showing a recent visitor his awards, Shannon, who at 75 has a shock of snowy hair and an elfish grin, seemed almost embarrassed.
    — John Horgan, IEEE Spectrum, 27 Apr. 2016
Definition of elfish
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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
Definition of knavish
Adjective
  • Then editor-in-chief Jim Shooter ordered Jean be killed, a decision that rubbed the artist as wrongheaded and would lead to his exit a few months later.
    — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 18 June 2026
  • One of the greatest threats to public education in Chicago is the union itself and its wrongheaded insistence that CPS focus on political activism over academics.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 13 Mar. 2026
Definition of wrongheaded
Adjective
  • Two years ago, the Man City phenom appeared in a 90-second spot for the game that saw him get recruited to storm a castle teeming with goblins, dragons and impish skeletons.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 26 June 2026
  • Her new album, Fata Morgana, uses an array of cascading rhythms, impish hooks, and fierce poetry to interrogate her place in a corrupt American society.
    — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 25 June 2026
Definition of impish
Adjective
  • The waggish jeer that subverts the Reich Chancellery, designed by Adolf Hitler's chief architect, Albert Speer, must have sent the woman who chastises children for flatulent folly into a tizzy.
    — Natasha Gural, Forbes, 12 Jan. 2025
  • After publishing a New York Times piece about grieving her late husband, the waggish writer received an email from a kindly old acquaintance who was also recently widowed.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 24 Oct. 2024
Definition of waggish
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 (with)
monkeyish
monkeys
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Cite this Entry

“Monkeyish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monkeyish. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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