Dr. Barnaby Fulton
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noun [ U ] uk / ˈmʌŋ.ki ˌbɪz.nɪs / us / ˈmʌŋ.ki ˌbɪz.nɪs / Add to word list. behaviour that is not acceptable or is dishonest: The teacher suspected that there had been some monkey business going on while she was out of the room. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Cheating & tricking. anti-fraud. bad faith. bamboozle. bilk. blackmail.
The meaning of MONKEY BUSINESS is shenanigan. How to use monkey business in a sentence.
Climbing on top of the refrigerator or filling the sugar bowl with salt could both be described as monkey business. Monkey business is one of those animal idioms that make a lot of sense — just picture a rascally monkey stealing the hat off your head and running away.
monkey business. noun [ U ] us / ˈmʌŋ.ki ˌbɪz.nɪs / uk / ˈmʌŋ.ki ˌbɪz.nɪs / Add to word list. behavior that is not acceptable or is dishonest: The teacher suspected that there had been some monkey business going on while she was out of the room. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Cheating & tricking. anti-fraud. bad faith. bamboozle.
Monkey business is illegal business or illegal action taken by someone. Or things you do that can't favour you.
- I think the two meanings are so close it's hardly practical to try and split usages into one or the other. Lots of things can be called "monkey bus...
- I would say the former is usually understood. I can see it extending to the latter, but I always think of monkey business as something more benign.
- In the 1920's in the USA a teacher called Scopes was put on trial for teaching evolution. He apparently coached his pupils into acting as prosecuti...
monkey business. Tricks; underhanded goings-on. This term, which transfers the mischievous, sly actions of monkeys to human beings, began to be used in the 1880s. It may have been a replacement for monkeyshines, which originated in the United States about 1820 and meant mischievous tricks.
Learn the meaning and origin of the phrase "monkey business", which can describe deceitful, dishonest, silly, or mischievous conduct. Find out how monkeys inspired this expression and how it relates to a Sanskrit term.
