monkey

MUNG-kee/ˈmʌŋki/

Pluralmonkeys

Verbmonkeys, monkeying, monkeyed

21 meanings of monkey

Practice

1
animalnouncountable
A clever animal, usually with a long tail, that lives in trees. People sometimes call apes monkeys too.
Like a small cousin of the apes, but with a tail.
A monkey swung from branch to branch high above the trail.
The monkeys groomed each other while the keeper filled their bowls.
Note
2
naughty childnouncolloquialfigurativelycountable
A playful, badly behaved person, especially a child full of mischief.
Like a child who can't sit still and gets into everything.
Come here, you little monkey, and pick up these toys!
The twins were such monkeys at the party, climbing on every chair.
UsageSay cheeky little monkey to a naughty child, kindly.
Similarrascal, scamp, imp, devil
Note
3
meddleverbcolloquialintransitive
To touch or mess with something you should leave alone.
Like poking at something that works fine until you break it.
Please don't monkey with the settings on my computer.
He was monkeying with the lock until it finally broke.
Similarinterfere, fiddle
4
nounderogatoryfigurativelycountable
An insulting word for a person who is very foolish or stupid.
Like calling someone a silly animal because they did something foolish.
Only a total monkey would sign a contract without reading it.
Those monkeys left the front gate wide open again.
Similaridiot
Oppositegenius
5
lowly workernounslangderogatoryfigurativelycountable
A worker who does boring, repeated tasks thought to need little skill.
Like a person used as a machine, doing one small job over and over.
I'm just a monkey here, stuffing envelopes eight hours a day.
He felt like a monkey doing the same job hour after hour.
UsageUsed in phrases like code monkey. Calling someone this can sound unkind.
Similardrone, grunt, dogsbody
6
nounslangderogatoryfigurativelycountable
A person who only does what someone else tells them to do.
Like a puppet that only moves when someone pulls its strings.
Stop being the boss's monkey and say what you really think.
He felt like a monkey, doing tricks whenever the manager snapped her fingers.
UsagePeople say the organ grinder, not the monkey: the boss, not the helper.
Similarpuppet
Note
7
racial slurnounslangethnicoffensiveslurfigurativelycountable
A very offensive, racist word used to insult a Black person by comparing them to an animal.
UsageSay Black person instead.
Note

Less common meanings

8
addictionnounslangcountable
A habit or addiction that is very hard to stop, especially a drug habit.
Like a heavy weight on your back you cannot put down.
His painkiller habit was a monkey on his back for years.
With help from a drug clinic, she finally got the monkey off her back.
UsageSay a monkey on your back: a habit you cannot stop.
Similarhabit, addiction, dependence
Note
9
imitateverbtransitive
To copy someone's actions or speech, often to make fun of them.
He winked at Liza, who monkeyed him, holding her own eye shut.
2011, Elizabeth Mosier, The PlaygroupHere, monkeyed means copied someone's action, often to make fun of them.
UsageSay monkey someone: copy them. Monkey with means meddle.
Similarmimic, imitate, ape, copy, parody
Note
10
five hundrednounslangcountable
A slang name for five hundred pounds, or in older American use, five hundred dollars.
He won a monkey betting on the race that afternoon.
That secondhand watch cost me a monkey, cash in hand.
UsageSay a monkey for £500, two monkeys for £1,000, without adding pounds.
Note
11
tempernounslang
A person's temper. If someone's monkey is up, they are angry.
Don't tease him about the lost game, or you'll get his monkey up.
Mom's monkey was up before we even explained what happened.
UsageSay get his monkey up: make him angry.
Similardander, temper
Note
12
dancenoun
A dance from the 1960s where you swing your arms up and down like playing drums.
Everyone at the party did the monkey when the old song came on.
Grandpa showed us the monkey at the wedding, pumping his arms like a drummer.
UsageSay do the monkey.
Note
13
ugly personnounderogatoryfigurativelycountable
An unkind word for an ugly person, especially one with a face like a monkey's.
The other kids called him an ugly little monkey because of his huge ears.
Don't call him a monkey just because of his looks. That's cruel.
14
noun
Any animal in the wider ape-and-monkey family, including people.
15
nounslang
A rude slang word for a man's penis.
16
nounslang
In motorcycle racing with sidecars, the person who rides in the sidecar.
17
noun
In card games like blackjack, a king, queen, or jack.
18
noun
The heavy weight that a pile-driving machine lifts and drops to push posts into the ground.
19
noun
A liquid made from acid and zinc, used to help melted metal stick when joining metal parts.
20
nounslang
On a ship, the container used to carry a group's share of grog, a strong rum drink.
21
noun
A small ship used for trading in the 1500s.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of monkey apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

The origin is uncertain. It may come from 'monk' plus a small-thing ending, or from an old German or French name for a monkey in animal stories.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

The origin of monkey is uncertain. en.wiktionary.org
Monkey may derive from monk with a diminutive suffix. en.wiktionary.org
A proposed origin involves a monkey character's name in a German animal story. en.wikipedia.org
A proposed origin involves an Old French monkey character's name. en.wiktionary.org