1
as in addiction
a physiological need for certain drugs
I've got this monkey on my back, and going to detox is the only way to get it off
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in devil
an appealingly mischievous person
come back here, you little monkey!
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of monkey
Madeleine May, CBS News, 23 Dec. 2025
Claire, age 7 What do monkeys sing at Christmas?
—Fiona Tapp, Parents, 23 Dec. 2025
Michael Haag, Dallas News, 10 Oct. 2022
With supply running low toward the end of most evenings, savvy bun fanatics don’t monkey around, routinely calling ahead to request an extra skillet of rolls set aside just for them. Ettan.
—Valerie Demicheva and Flora Chang, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 July 2021
See All Example Sentences for monkey
Noun
The fate of monkeys already in labs across the country is also unclear.
—Verb
The Bears will be prepared for the environment, but getting that Morgantown monkey off their back will take a lot more than imagined.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for monkey
Noun
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Chief among them is small-screen addiction to platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.—
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As a group, Native Americans face high rates of poverty, chronic disease, and mental illness — all are risk factors for addiction.—
Noun
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Nobody wants to deal with our old devil, even if the new one comes with an encroaching open threat actively bubbling in the Caribbean and Latin America at large.—
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But Bourdain, with his devil-be-damned demeanor, somehow makes the dish feel approachable — even though the two chefs’ recipes are pretty similar.—
Verb
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In October, the Department of Homeland Security posted an image aping marketing for the Halo series.—
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More importantly, this origin story of a movie and a movement apes the joie de moviemaking and the jazzy looseness of the original to an absolutely amazing degree, replicating an off-the-cuff feeling that’s more than a second-hand buzz.—
Noun
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Bolstering the state’s dependence on fossil fuels forces us to keep funding the destruction of our environment, health, and a civil democratic society.—
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The prescription opioid pill, called naltrexone, was first approved by the FDA to treat opioid dependence in 1984.—
Noun
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In a time when unemployment is on the rise and the rich are running amok and wreaking havoc on the poor — and the social services in place to support them — who doesn’t love the idea of rogue rascals sticking it to a bougie institution by running off with its crown jewels?—
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The hilarious hijinks that ensue are centered on a rugby-playing rascal whose initial interests in pulling chicks and working get-rich-quick schemes give way to a lifelong love of writing poetry in the post-Soviet-occupation era of the 1990s.—
Verb
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The scene came in a fictional segment parodying Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead in which Maggie defends her architectural talents after her daycare teacher punishes her for making beautiful structures from building blocks.—
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Grande, who has been featured as a musical guest twice (once as part of her double-duty in 2016), sang, parodied and disappeared into characters all through the night, flexing her skillset as a host who’s game to try on costumes no matter how ridiculous, impressions no matter how far-fetched.—
Noun
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The United States of America is a rogue nation, run by a violent criminal who operates outside the rule of law.—
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There will never again be one rogue program hijacking the sport with attitude and intimidation.—
Verb
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An onboard synthesizer manipulates a small set of core sounds to mimic everything from the roar of a jet plane to the flushing of a toilet through a little speaker in the Brick.—
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The brand also offers its own line of long-lasting polish that, when paired with its Magic Finish Top Coat, mimics the appearance and wearability of gel polish without having to use a UV lamp.—
Cite this Entry
“Monkey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monkey. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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