monkeyshines

noun

plural of monkeyshine
1
as in buffoonery
wildly playful or mischievous behavior hockey players who are known for their monkeyshines on and off the ice

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in trick
a playful or mischievous act intended as a joke on the alert for paleontological monkeyshines ever since the unmasking of Piltdown man

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for monkeyshines
  1. buffoonery
  2. trick
  3. tomfoolery
  4. caper
  5. horseplay
  6. escapade
  7. clowning
  8. antic
Noun
  • The show creates space for other types of buffoonery as well.
    — Georgie McKeon, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Still, there's a remarkable level of buffoonery in his analysis.
    — Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of buffoonery
Noun
  • Kids can explore an inflatable corn maze, go trick-or-treating, face painting and more.
    — John Coffren, Baltimore Sun, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Beamer’s acumen in the game’s third phase comes from father, Hall of Famer Frank Beamer, whose Virginia Tech teams won games by blocking kicks and using trick plays.
    — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of trick
Noun
  • After the film’s theatrical release on June 26, the decades-long saga of pranks and tomfoolery is finally coming to an end.
    — Isabelle Farina, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026
  • New assistant coach Alice Chilton is a blatant remodeling of Roy Kent — a brusque ex-soccer player who’s reluctant to engage with Ted’s tomfoolery or personal prodding — but Tanya Reynolds’ performance is equal turns wounded and witty.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of tomfoolery
Noun
  • Third place was Japanese director Sabu’s Arrested Memory, a crime caper about a detective with dementia who unwittingly wanders off with a multimillion-dollar ransom, sending cops and criminals on his trail.
    — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 21 Sep. 2026
  • To serve it as part of a larger menu, consider following it up with salmon—try Martha’s pan-seared salmon fillets with caper-lemon compound butter.
    — Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of caper
Noun
  • The video depicts a group of students engaged in horseplay, progressing to two 15-year-olds tussling and laughing, according to the suit.
    — Eric Peterson, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
  • The undefeated South Dakota Coyotes prowled into Albertsons Stadium this weekend and turned what could have been an evening of horseplay for the Broncos into a dogfight.
    — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of horseplay
Noun
  • Check out even more Amazon travel finds to shop ahead of your fall escapades.
    — Annie Blackman, InStyle, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Now roughly two weeks later, Netflix has made a whole documentary about the escapade.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of escapade
Noun
  • On paper, the script didn’t seem that funny, and the looseness of it all — the clowning, the lack of a traditional plot structure — seemed kind of slapdash.
    — Victor Garber, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The clowning might be a little too effortful.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
Definition of clowning
Noun
  • This was in response to the Heat letting loose with a whole lot of abject silliness during Tuesday’s intrasquad scrimmage, which actually is the perfect time for such antics.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 8 Oct. 2026
  • For his part, Khrushchev readily admitted to such behavior in his memoirs, likening his noisy antics to those of revolutionary protesters in the Duma, an imperial Russian legislative body.
    — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of antic
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

monkeyshine
monkeyshines
monkeys (with)
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Cite this Entry

“Monkeyshines.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monkeyshines. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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