monkey

1. 1.

   play around with or alter or falsify, usually secretively or dishonestly

   “Someone tampered with the documents on my desk”

   “The reporter fiddle with the facts”

   Synonymstamperfiddle

   Broadermanipulate
2. 2.

   do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly

   “The old lady is usually mucking about in her little house”

   Synonymsputtermess aroundpottertinkermonkey aroundmuck aboutmuck around

   Broaderwork

   Narrowerpuddle

Other forms of monkey

plural

monkeys·

past tense

monkeyed·

present participle

monkeying·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about monkey

What does monkey mean?

monkey means "any of various long-tailed primates (excluding the prosimians)". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in monkey?

monkey has 2 syllables: mon-key. The stress falls on "mon". In IPA it is /ˈmʌŋki/.

What is another word for monkey?

Close synonyms include imp, scamp, rascal, rapscallion, scalawag. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is monkey a common word?

monkey is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.