grease monkey
"grease-monkey" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“grease monkey” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A mechanic, often with the specific connotation of an automobile mechanic.
Corpus desk
Index EN-grease-monkey · grease monkey · English
grease monkey · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "G" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | grease monkey |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “grease monkey” in English
Rare enough to double-check
grease monkey is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A mechanic, often with the specific connotation of an automobile mechanic.".
grease monkey doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: First use appears c. 1910 in a translated work. See cite below. May have originated during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, when children were used to grease the large rotating axles which were used to transfer power from one centralized steam en… The correct English form is grease monkey, spelled G-R-E-A-S-E- -M-O-N-K-E-Y.
Definition
- 1A mechanic, often with the specific connotation of an automobile mechanic.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how grease monkey appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
If you appear like a tramp or grease-monkey how can you expect to meet the people who are able to support your business.
Maybe some other "grease monkey," as I call mechanics, will correct me.
Etymology
First use appears c. 1910 in a translated work. See cite below. May have originated during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, when children were used to grease the large rotating axles which were used to transfer power from one centralized steam engine to all of the machines on the factory floor. These children, covered in grease and crawling in the tight spaces in the ceilings, were equated with monkeys.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.