Word.ws English Dictionary

makes a monkey out of

makes a monkey out of is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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

Questions about makes a monkey out of

What is makes a monkey out of the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Makes a monkey out of is the third-person singular simple present indicative of make a monkey out of.

Words near makes a monkey out of in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: makes a monkey out 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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