as in funning
wildly playful or mischievous behavior
all that monkeying was sure to end in someone or something getting hurt
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in prankish
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for monkeying
Adjective
-
Angela Balogh Calin’s costumes prepare the way for Ionesco’s prankish jokes.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026 -
Caltech is a sort of nerd Valhalla, where brilliant and creative youngsters study and engage in prankish mischief.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
There’s a word for this type of storytelling, and Taccone deserves credit for delivering a superior version of this without outright aping its most famous practitioner.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
24 Apr. 2026
-
But the series’ genre switch is just a theatrical exercise, like Euphoria is putting on another play, this one against a Harmony Korine– and Quentin Tarantino–aping backdrop.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Despite that underlying tension, kids play on the street outside while the large family has a dynamic like any other — noisily squabbling, joking, or in the case of the matriarchal grandmother, Mariam (Hiam Abbass), preparing a meal in a kitchen plagued by constant utility outages.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
15 May 2026
-
The president has long bristled at the otherwise customary joking at his expense by celebrity comedians.—
Dennis Romero,
NBC news,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The rabbi is ornery, arrogant, sometimes cruel.—
Daniel Felsenthal,
Vulture,
26 Mar. 2026
-
For ornery toddlers, who want to do everything themselves, Rao suggests giving them their own toothbrush to use while parents brush their teeth with a second one right alongside them.—
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall,
Popular Science,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Companies brought design in-house, copying IDEO’s approach without needing to hire the agency.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
16 May 2026
-
Their other beers show how an American brewery can learn from Belgium without just copying it.—
Jim Dobson,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
Noun
-
The clowning might be a little too effortful.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026
-
As the race unfolds in real time, there’s clowning, collisions, sabotage, surprises, comedy, chaos and more.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Acquiring sports teams and land For much of his life a partying roustabout who wooed beautiful women with a roguish charm, the lean, mustachioed sportsman married three times.—
David Bauder,
Chicago Tribune,
6 May 2026
-
Plans are now underway for a contemporary reimagining of the series, which saw McShane play the eponymous roguish and fourth wall-breaking antiques dealer, a likeable anti-hero with a knack for recognizing genuine antiques from fakes or forgeries.—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Charlie Chaplin mimicking devil horns.—
Sheena McKenzie,
CNN Money,
18 May 2026
-
This high-rise pair of Wranglers is our affordable way of mimicking Witherspoon's look.—
Izzy Baskette,
PEOPLE,
16 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Monkeying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monkeying. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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