monkey
A small animal like a little human, usually with a tail, that climbs trees and lives in warm countries.
A small or medium-sized primate, usually with a tail, that often lives in trees and is known for being active and intelligent.
To play and act silly when you should work or be serious.
To behave in a silly, playful, or annoying way instead of doing something serious or useful.
To touch or change something when you do not really know how, and maybe break it or cause problems.
To handle, adjust, or interfere with something in a careless or unskilled way, often causing or risking damage or problems.
A child or person who plays a lot and is a bit naughty, usually said in a friendly way.
A playful, energetic, or mischievous child or person, often used in a light or affectionate way.
A toy or soft doll that looks like a monkey.
A toy, doll, or model that is made to look like a monkey.
A person seen as doing boring, simple work, often in a factory, garage, or computer job; can be rude.
A person who is thought to do simple, repetitive, or low-status work, especially in technical or manual jobs, often used in compound terms and can sound insulting.
British slang for 500 in money, especially 500 pounds.
An amount of money equal to five hundred units of the local currency, especially five hundred pounds in British slang.
A very strong and racist bad word that calls a person a monkey, especially a Black person. It is deeply insulting and should not be used.
A highly offensive racist insult that compares a person to a monkey, most often used against Black people and other groups in a dehumanizing way.
- Base: monkey
- Plural: monkeys
- Base: monkey
- 3rd Person Singular: monkeys
- Present Participle: monkeying
- Past: monkeyed
a monkey on your back
1a heavy ongoing problem
A big problem or bad habit, especially an addiction, that you cannot easily stop or get away from.
- His gambling problem was a monkey on his back for years.
- Debt has been a monkey on their backs since they lost their jobs.
brass monkey weather
1extremely cold weather
Very, very cold weather.
- It’s brass monkey weather out there tonight.
- We stayed inside all day because it was brass monkey weather.
cheeky monkey
1a playfully rude child
A child or person who is a bit rude or naughty in a funny or cute way, usually said with affection.
- You cheeky monkey, you ate the last piece of cake!
- She called him a cheeky monkey when he copied her accent.
cheeky monkey
1playful term for a cheeky person
a playful name for someone being cheeky
- You cheeky monkey—give that back!
- Stop it, you cheeky monkey, you’re making me laugh.
- He called his son a cheeky monkey for hiding the keys.
- You cheeky monkey!
code monkey
1a low-status programmer
An informal, often joking word for a computer programmer who just writes simple code and does not make big decisions.
- He calls himself a code monkey, but he’s actually very skilled.
- No one wants to be treated like a code monkey who only fixes bugs all day.
get the monkey off your back
1to get rid of a burden
To finally get free from a big problem or addiction that has been with you for a long time.
- Joining a support group helped him get the monkey off his back.
- She got the monkey off her back when she paid off her student loans.
grease monkey
1a car mechanic (slang)
An informal, sometimes rude, word for a car mechanic who works with engines and oil.
- My brother works as a grease monkey at the local garage.
- The movie follows a young grease monkey who dreams of becoming a race-car driver.
I’ll be a monkey’s uncle
1expression of surprise or disbelief
An old-fashioned, humorous way to say you are very surprised and find something hard to believe.
- Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle—he actually finished on time.
- I’ll be a monkey’s uncle, I never thought I’d see you here.
make a monkey out of someone
1to make someone look foolish
To make someone look stupid or silly in front of other people.
- The magician made a monkey out of him by proving his guess was completely wrong.
- She felt the interviewer had made a monkey out of her on live television.
monkey about
1to mess about (BrE)
British English: to play and act silly instead of working or being serious.
- We just monkeyed about in town all afternoon.
- Don’t monkey about in the lab; the equipment is expensive.
monkey around
1to play or mess about
To play and act in a silly way, not taking things seriously or not doing the work you should do.
- They spent the whole evening monkeying around instead of cleaning the house.
- Stop monkeying around and help me with the shopping.
- The kids like to monkey around in the garden after school.
monkey business
1dishonest or silly behavior
Bad, dishonest, or silly behavior, especially when someone is doing something they should not do.
- The manager warned that there would be no monkey business with the company accounts.
- There’s been some monkey business going on with those expense claims.
monkey see, monkey do
1copying someone without thinking
Used to say that someone copies another person’s actions without thinking for themselves, like a child or an animal.
- Kids are watching you—monkey see, monkey do.
- It was a case of monkey see, monkey do as the younger players copied the star’s behavior.
monkey suit
1a formal or uniform suit
A joking word for a formal suit or uniform, especially a tuxedo that someone does not like wearing.
- Do I really have to wear a monkey suit to this wedding?
- He was stuck in a monkey suit all day for the conference.
monkey with
1to tamper with something
To touch or change something when you do not really know how, and maybe break it or cause problems.
- Don’t monkey with the thermostat; the boss likes it set that way.
- The radio stopped working after he monkeyed with the wires.
pay peanuts, get monkeys
1low pay attracts poor workers
If you pay people very little money, you will only get workers who are not very good or not very skilled.
- If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys—raise the salary if you want better candidates.
- The company learned the hard way that paying peanuts gets monkeys.
throw a monkey wrench into
1to disrupt a plan
To suddenly cause a plan or process to have big problems or to stop working well.
- The new regulations threw a monkey wrench into our expansion plans.
- His sudden resignation threw a monkey wrench into the project schedule.
more fun than a barrel of monkeys
1extremely fun or entertaining
Very enjoyable and funny; a lot of fun.
- The party was more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
- The kids think the new game is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
- This game is more fun than a barrel of monkeys when everyone joins in.
- Camping with them is always more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
- He promised the event would be more fun than a barrel of monkeys.