monkeyshines

noun

plural of monkeyshine
1
as in buffoonery
wildly playful or mischievous behavior hockey players who are known for their monkeyshines on and off the ice

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in trick
a playful or mischievous act intended as a joke on the alert for paleontological monkeyshines ever since the unmasking of Piltdown man

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for monkeyshines
  1. buffoonery
  2. trick
  3. tomfoolery
  4. caper
  5. horseplay
  6. escapade
  7. clowning
  8. antic
Noun
  • Without Roberts in charge, expect the political and racial buffoonery to creep back into the conversation at ESPN.
    — Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The show, with its interest in corporate buffoonery, doesn’t quite manage to hand-wave away the queasy implications.
    — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
Definition of buffoonery
Noun
  • Les Bleus were then a penalty shootout away from retaining it four years later when a Mbappe hat-trick improbably wasn’t enough to ensure France became the first team to retain the trophy since Brazil in 1962.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 19 July 2026
  • Small styling tricks can help create movement, texture, and add visual interest—and one of those is reflexing.
    — Cameron Beall, Southern Living, 18 July 2026
Definition of trick
Noun
  • This is the first sign of the kind of tomfoolery Luke has in store for the night.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 14 July 2026
  • The project has been plagued by technical issues, supplier disputes, and alleged tomfoolery—empty mini tequila bottles were reportedly discovered on one of the airplanes under construction.
    — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 12 June 2026
Definition of tomfoolery
Noun
  • The green is a salsa verde, chunky and bright with capers and parsley, egg whites and breadcrumbs.
    — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026
  • The capers and sauce made for a delicately delicious fish dish served with a side of artichoke hearts and fingerling potatoes.
    — Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 16 July 2026
Definition of caper
Noun
  • When horseplay turns into an impromptu hookup, neither of the young men fight the urge.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 June 2026
  • After France’s 4-3 victory against Argentina at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, horseplay between the players at the team hotel culminated in back-up centre-back Adil Rami setting off a fire extinguisher in the early hours of the morning.
    — Tom Williams, New York Times, 17 May 2026
Definition of horseplay
Noun
  • Meanwhile, Melissa Sondhi as her maid Lisette and Alex Taite as the poet Prunier have a little romantic escapade of their own going on.
    — Randy McMullen, Mercury News, 16 July 2026
  • In the Wizard of Oz-like escapade, Kansas hairdresser Gail (Zoey Deutch) walks in on her fiancé (Michael Cassidy) having sex with Jennifer Aniston (as herself), who’s in town for a cookbook reading.
    — Eric Andersson, PEOPLE, 15 July 2026
Definition of escapade
Noun
  • The clowning might be a little too effortful.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
  • As the race unfolds in real time, there’s clowning, collisions, sabotage, surprises, comedy, chaos and more.
    — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Apr. 2026
Definition of clowning
Noun
  • Sadoski plays Chef Luca, a brilliant but self-destructive superstar chef whose personal entanglements and rock-star antics threaten to derail his high-end restaurant residency at The Roman.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 15 July 2026
  • Their early live shows were marked by ominous guitar riffs, blast beats, and gruesome antics onstage, feeding into the early signs of a new heavy metal subgenre that would become death metal.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 14 July 2026
Definition of antic
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

monkeyshine
monkeyshines
monkeys (with)
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Cite this Entry

“Monkeyshines.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monkeyshines. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

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