monkey
Americannoun
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any of more than 250 species of simian primates belonging to the two distinct lines of New World monkeys and Old World monkeys.
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the fur of certain species of such long-haired animals.
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a person whose behavior is likened to such an animal, as a mischievous, agile child or a mimic.
My nephew is the most adorable little monkey—he'll try to climb anything he can reach.
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Disparaging and Offensive. (used as a slur against a member of a racial or ethnic minority group, especially a Black person.)
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a dance, deriving from the twist, in which the partners move their hands as if climbing a pole and jerk their heads back and forth.
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Slang. an addiction to narcotics.
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any of various mechanical devices, as the ram of a pile driver.
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Coal Mining. a small passageway or opening.
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British Slang. the sum of 500 pounds.
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Australian Informal. a sheep.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
idioms
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a monkey on one's back,
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an addiction to a drug or drugs; narcotic dependency.
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an enduring and often vexing habit or urge.
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a burdensome problem, situation, or responsibility; personal affliction or hindrance.
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make a monkey out of, to cause to appear ridiculous; make a fool of. Also make a monkey of.
noun
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any of numerous long-tailed primates excluding the prosimians (lemurs, tarsiers, etc): comprise the families Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys), Cebidae (New World monkeys), and Callithricidae (marmosets) See Old World monkey New World monkey
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any primate except man
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a naughty or mischievous person, esp a child
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the head of a pile-driver ( monkey engine ) or of some similar mechanical device
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(modifier) nautical denoting a small light structure or piece of equipment contrived to suit an immediate purpose
a monkey foresail
a monkey bridge
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slang an addict's dependence on a drug
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slang a butt of derision; someone made to look a fool (esp in the phrase make a monkey of )
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slang (esp in bookmaking) £500
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slang $500
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slang a sheep
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slang to care about or regard as important
who gives a monkey's what he thinks?
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slang
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to be troubled by a persistent problem
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to be addicted to a drug
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verb
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(intr; usually foll by around, with, etc) to meddle, fool, or tinker
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rare (tr) to imitate; ape
Sensitive Note
See simianization.
Usage
Plural word for monkey The plural form of monkey is monkeys (not monkies). Words that end with a -y preceded by a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) are made plural by adding an -s at the end, as in chimney/chimneys and ray/rays. This can be confusing, because the plural form of words that end with a -y and are preceded by a consonant is made by changing the ending to -ies, as in party/parties, candy/candies, and duty/duties.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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monkeysimple
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monkeyssimple
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have monkeyedperfect
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has monkeyedperfect
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am monkeyingprogressive
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are monkeyingprogressive
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is monkeyingprogressive
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have been monkeyingperfect progressive
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has been monkeyingperfect progressive
Past
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monkeyedsimple
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had monkeyedperfect
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was monkeyingprogressive
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were monkeyingprogressive
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had been monkeyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of monkey
First recorded in 1520–30; origin uncertain; possibly from Low German; compare Middle Low German Moneke (name of son of Martin the Ape in the story of Reynard the Fox ), equivalent to mone- (akin to obsolete French monne “she-ape,” Spanish, Portuguese mono “ape”) + -ke diminutive suffix
Explanation
A monkey is a tropical, long-tailed animal known as a "primate." If you visit India or Sri Lanka, you're almost guaranteed to see monkeys, but don't monkey around with them. Many monkeys live in trees, although some are ground-dwelling, and increasingly many live in urban areas, scavenging food and interacting with people. Monkeys are famously playful and mischievous, and because of this, monkey is a common diminutive (or fond nickname) for impish kids, and "monkey business" is foolishness or deceitful behavior. When you monkey around, or monkey with something, you fool about or fiddle with it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Inspired by my late grandmother’s Southern funeral sandwiches, this savory monkey bread is pure crowd-pleaser territory.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
"He was your very normal, cheeky little monkey," she said.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
The Halos have gone to halo, the Big A is now the Big L and, somewhere, a rally monkey weeps.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
She introduces us to the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, an organization whose remit is to raise awareness and support for creatures such as the proboscis monkey and the blobfish.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
Side by side, and walking as quietly as tomcats on the prowl, we moved on into monkey country.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
The vaccine has been developed, tested on mice and macaque monkeys, and is being manufactured to a clinical standard by the Serum Institute of India.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
The sample included gorillas, orangutans, macaques, colobus monkeys, fossil apes and more.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026
The experimental jab has been tested in monkeys where it rapidly trained the immune system and gave close to 100% protection.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
Certain parrots have more neurons than many monkeys.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
I was walking along; calling, looking, and listening for monkeys when all at once I smelled something.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
The timeline got complicated, screenwriters monkeyed with the story mechanics, directors brought new special effects into the battle to keep the action fresh.
From The Verge ● Nov. 1, 2019
He and Hetfield purposefully monkeyed with the mix, he said.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 15, 2018
Ingredients whose genes have been monkeyed with are avoided.
From New York Times ● Jul. 3, 2017
What we’ll all soon learn, if we haven’t already, is that the presidency isn’t something to be monkeyed with.
From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2017
Grunt monkeyed his way up in half the time, delivering Addison to the top under one arm.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
So $14 million in the past eight months, with all the monkeying around that we’ve done, suggests that next year it could be $40 million.
From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2025
But Draper's "monkeying about" after the game resulted in him having to walk back to the hotel as Sherring "needed some space".
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2024
So despite all this multiverse monkeying, they managed to raise the dramatic stakes for Peter going forward, and I’m here for it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2021
Nevertheless, the BOG passed a resolution Jan. 17 unanimously calling on the legislature to quit monkeying around and pass a budget, for Pete’s sake.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 5, 2020
She couldn’t have some dummy monkeying with her looms.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
