Word.ws English Dictionary

making a monkey out of

making a monkey out of is the present participle and gerund 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 making a monkey out of

What is making a monkey out of the present participle and gerund of?
Making a monkey out of is the present participle and gerund of make a monkey out of.

Words near making a monkey out of in the dictionary

  1. making a meal of
  2. making a meal out of
  3. making a mistake
  4. making a mockery of
  5. making a monkey of
  6. making a monkey out of
  7. making a mountain out of a molehill
  8. making a move
  9. making a name for oneself
  10. making a night of it
  11. making a noise in the world

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: making 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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