Word.ws English Dictionary

make a monkey of

make a monkey of is the alternative form of make a monkey out of.

Meaning of make a monkey out of

Verb

make a monkey out of (third-person singular simple present makes a monkey out of, present participle making a monkey out of, simple past and past participle made a monkey out of)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To cause a person, group, or action to appear foolish or inferior; to subject someone or something to ridicule.
    • The rough old sealer swore some terrible oaths, protesting "that he would not make a monkey of himself, by appearing in this garb."1835, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 10, in The Monikins

Forms of make a monkey of

third-person singular presentmakes a monkey of
present participlemaking a monkey of
past participlemade a monkey of
pastmade a monkey of

Questions about make a monkey of

What is make a monkey of the alternative form of?
Make a monkey of is the alternative form of make a monkey out of.

Words near make a monkey of in the dictionary

  1. make a mark
  2. make a meal of
  3. make a meal out of
  4. make a mistake
  5. make a mockery of
  6. make a monkey of
  7. make a monkey out of
  8. make a mountain out of a molehill
  9. make a move
  10. make a muscle
  11. make a name for oneself

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: make a monkey of (page history and authors); make a monkey out of (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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Cite this entry: “make a monkey of.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/make_a_monkey_of. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.