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 ornery
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for monkeying
Adjective
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That is, until an ornery cow named Daisy kicks over a lantern and ignites a fire that quickly engulfs the Windy City.—
EW Staff Published,
EW.com,
3 July 2025 -
The outcome is a fire ant that has the strength and ornery disposition of the fiercer red fire ant with the better tolerance of colder temperatures found in black fire ants.—
Gareth McGrath,
USA Today,
28 June 2025
Verb
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What sets Fay apart, too, is the harmonious amalgamation of characteristically Italian design with the sensibility of New England—and its earnest commitment not to appropriating or copying a certain aesthetic, but to embracing it authentically and blending it perfectly with Fay’s own design values.—
Caroline Reilly,
Robb Report,
3 Jan. 2025
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Over time, the tradition gained cultural significance, and many started copying it in the hopes of a prosperous year ahead.—
George Monastiriakos,
Newsweek,
31 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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In 1950, scientists deployed a virus called Myxoma to destroy the rascally rabbits.—
Bethany Brookshire,
Smithsonian Magazine,
8 Dec. 2022
-
The Los Angeles Rams, starring as the rascally rabbit, defeated the slow-and-deliberate Cincinnati Bengals in a fascinating case study between completely opposite approaches to team-building.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Feb. 2022
Adjective
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Despite Igor's impish antics, his Facebook posts and TODAY appearance have generated considerable interest from potential adoptive parents.—
Moná Thomas,
People.com,
14 July 2025
-
The others were Dan Lucas, the guitarist, from York, and Taylor Stewart, the drummer, from outside Glasgow—the group’s impish prankster, who has a penchant for choking his mates and kicking them in the balls.—
Nick Paumgarten,
New Yorker,
16 June 2025
Verb
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The sketch sees Sarah Sherman imitating Wood’s Chelsea, cartoonishly wide-eyed, donned in large false teeth and speaking in a thick accent.—
Claire Franken,
TVLine,
13 Apr. 2025
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The company uses data and AI learning to simulate attacks that go beyond just imitating an individual’s voice – like most modern sophisticated phishing attacks, the technology uses details about someone’s family, background, personality and more.—
Laya Neelakandan,
CNBC,
2 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Growing up, the de Kooning home became an unofficial meeting ground for creative tomfoolery: Lisa de Kooning was a firm believer in play.—
Alessandra Schade,
Vogue,
7 June 2025
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Another aspect to note is that the AI didn’t ridicule me or otherwise play any tomfoolery about my need for assistance.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2025
Adjective
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And within the prankish world created by the production, not everyone was in on the joke.—
David Renard,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
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In person, Wood is funny but sedate, speaking in a deadpan carried along by a prankish undercurrent.—
Ismail Muhammad,
New York Times,
20 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Wells could be playful, knavish, and his tone here is one of urgency and optimism about the distribution of information.—
BostonGlobe.com,
BostonGlobe.com,
30 July 2021
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The same people who are now telling us that only Republican-voting obscurantists, ignorant deplorables and knavish right-wing media pundits are raising doubts about the vaccine would have been oozing skepticism.—
Gerard Baker,
WSJ,
12 July 2021
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Cite this Entry
“Monkeying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monkeying. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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