Monkey around Meaning in English

expression

US

UK

释义

To waste time by doing silly, playful, or unimportant things instead of being serious or productive; to behave in a mischievous or playful way.

用法与细微差别

Informal and often lighthearted; usually used to tell someone to stop wasting time or behaving playfully when more serious action is needed. Commonly appears as 'stop monkeying around.' Not literally about monkeys—relates to playful or mischievous behavior.

• Spanish: hacer tonterías - hacer el tonto - perder el tiempo
• Portuguese (BR): fazer bagunça - brincar à toa - perder tempo
• Portuguese (PT): fazer asneiras - brincar à toa - perder tempo
• Chinese (Simplified): 胡闹 - 捣蛋
• Chinese (Traditional): 胡鬧 - 搗蛋
• Hindi: मूर्खता करना - समय खराब करना
• Arabic: يعبث - يضيع الوقت
• Bengali: আঁটসাঁট করা - ফাজলামি করা
• Russian: дурачиться - баловаться
• Japanese: ふざける - いたずらする
• Vietnamese: nghịch ngợm - đùa giỡn
• Korean: 장난치다 - 빈둥거리다
• Turkish: oyalamak - oyalanmak - şakalaşmak
• Urdu: شرارت کرنا - بچپنا کرنا
• Indonesian: bercanda - main-main

例句

Stop monkeying around and finish your homework.

basic

They spent the meeting just monkeying around instead of getting things done.

natural

The kids monkeyed around in the backyard all afternoon.

basic

Quit monkeying around—we're late already!

natural

He loves to monkey around with gadgets and see how they work.

natural

If you monkey around with that machine, you might break it.

basic