monkey business
/ˈmʌŋki ˌbɪznɪs/NEUTRAL · C1
Meaning
dishonest or unacceptable behaviour
Examples
- 1The referee suspected monkey business when the scoreboard changed during the break.
- 2No monkey business while I'm away; leave your sister's belongings alone.
- 3Someone had secretly altered the competition scores; the judge immediately suspected monkey business.
- 4Finding fake signatures on the club's receipts gave us evidence of monkey business.
- 5The players hiding extra cards under the table were clearly involved in monkey business.
Grammar
Uncountable: no a or plural ending. Common after some, any or no, and with go on.
Similar in meaning
More idioms about animals
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →crocodile tearspretended sadness or regret that is not sincerean eager beaversomeone very keen to work harda red herringsomething that distracts attention from the real issuethe black sheepsomeone whose behaviour embarrasses their family or grouplike water off a duck's backhaving no effect on someone despite criticism or warningshave bigger fish to fryto have more important things to deal with
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
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