1
as in hijinks
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
Noun
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In the weeks leading up to Halloween, Newman continues to share wig tips ahead of partying and trick-or-treating.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
29 Oct. 2025 -
Advertisement Apple and caramel dips Apples are a top-tier fall fruit and a healthy, on-theme choice for trick-or-treaters.—
Angela Haupt,
Time,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Their relationship, tentative, intimate, and defiant, lingers long after the satirical skewering of male buffoonery has faded.—
Leila Latif,
IndieWire,
5 Sep. 2025
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He’s been tinkering with this messaging on and off since damn near the start of the century, when his criticism of the genre shifted from the power-holding executives (both white and Black) of the music industry who were profiting off buffoonery, a la Bamboozled, to rap music itself.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Preconfigured toppings include the Gold Standard (smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, lemon), the Summer Girl (burrata, grated tomato) and the Brusco (Calabrian cream cheese, pistachio mortadella, honey).—
Kate Bradshaw,
Mercury News,
29 Oct. 2025
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One of those friends forged on a film set is none other than the Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren, who first met Zegler while shooting the 2023 superhero caper Shazam!—
Helen Mirren,
Glamour,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
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There was nothing particularly frightening about their Viennese waltz, which was a nice change from all the creepy tomfoolery earlier in the night.—
Lynette Rice,
Deadline,
28 Oct. 2025
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This Survivor 49 challenge tomfoolery actually began before the season even started filming.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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This was where they were raised, where the future Reality Bites director would goof around with the other kids in their building and shoot their escapades with a Super 8 Canon his dad bought him.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
27 Oct. 2025
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Schitt’s Creek made the calamitous Rose family famous, and their escapades can now be found in one place in Canada.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Butch Baker, who was Henry County sheriff until 2014, recalled an incident in which Bertram was accused of inappropriate horseplay at the community corrections office.—
Tony Cook,
IndyStar,
2 July 2025
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The action anime feature for everyone who couldn’t get enough of the horseplay in The Two Towers has finally cantered onto Max.—
Savannah Salazar,
Vulture,
1 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Pickens' antics were on full display in Dallas’ 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders last week, and the NFL has punished him accordingly.—
Michael Gallagher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
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She was joined by her older sister, Bennett, 2, who is notorious for her antics around the Kelce home.—
Rachel McRady,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Finally, after plenty of clowning, Taylor Swift has revealed that her 12th album is on the way, titled The Life of a Showgirl.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
13 Aug. 2025
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This is a work in which the slapstick clowning and the tricky verbal non sequiturs should be merely the surface for roiling undercurrents of anguish, futility, despair and fear.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2019
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Cite this Entry
“Monkeyshines.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monkeyshines. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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