Word.ws English Dictionary

barrel of monkeys

Syllables: bar·rel of mon·keysUK/ˌbæɹ(ə)l‿əv ˈmʌŋkiz/US/ˌbæɹəl‿əv ˈmʌŋkiz/

barrel of monkeys noun: someone or something very amusing or funny, fun, mischievous, etc.

Noun

barrel of monkeys (plural barrels of monkeys)

  1. (idiomatic, informal) Someone or something very amusing or funny, fun, mischievous, etc.
    • He thinks he’s a barrel of monkeys, but he’s not particularly entertaining.
    Synonyms:
    hoot, riot

Synonyms of barrel of monkeys

Forms of barrel of monkeys

pluralbarrels of monkeys

Origin of barrel of monkeys

Possibly influenced by barrel of fun or barrel of laughs.

Questions about barrel of monkeys

What does barrel of monkeys mean?
Barrel of monkeys means someone or something very amusing or funny, fun, mischievous, etc.
What part of speech is barrel of monkeys?
Barrel of monkeys is a noun.
How do you pronounce barrel of monkeys?
Barrel of monkeys is pronounced /ˌbæɹ(ə)l‿əv ˈmʌŋkiz/ (UK).
What is the plural of barrel of monkeys?
The plural of barrel of monkeys is barrels of monkeys.

Words near barrel of monkeys in the dictionary

  1. barrel nut connectors
  2. barrel nuts
  3. barrel of fun
  4. barrel of land
  5. barrel of laughs
  6. barrel of monkeys
  7. barrel of sunshine
  8. barrel organ
  9. barrel organist
  10. barrel organists
  11. barrel organs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: barrel of monkeys (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-barrel of monkeys.ogg.

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