green monkey

American  

noun

1. a common savanna monkey, Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus, of West Africa, with a greenish-gray back and yellow tail.

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green monkey British  

noun

1. a W African variety of a common guenon monkey, Cercopithecus aethiops, having greenish-brown fur and a dark face Compare grivet vervet

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Etymology

Origin of green monkey

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

So in short, anxious drives to the grocery store over the past year, I found the presence of the little green monkey oddly reassuring.

From Washington Post • May 21, 2021

They included Dana the squirrel monkey, Mrs Grivet the African green monkey and an escaped emu that died during an attempt to recapture it.

From The Guardian • Sep. 20, 2018

In 2009, a Liberian woman caught smuggling baboon, green monkey and warthog meat into New York's John F. Kennedy airport was sentenced to three years of probation.

From Reuters • Mar. 27, 2014

He had a local accent and was wearing a dark V neck t-shirt, black trousers, dark boots, dark gloves, and a khaki green monkey hat pulled down to his eyes.

From BBC • Jul. 31, 2011

A green monkey, for example, has been observed calling ‘Careful! A lion!’ when there was no lion around.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari