monkey business
/ˈmʌŋkɪ ˌbɪznɪs/
"monkey-business" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“monkey business” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Activity that is mischievous, stupid, or time-wasting.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | monkey business |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmʌŋkɪ ˌbɪznɪs/ |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “monkey business” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
monkey business is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmʌŋkɪ ˌbɪznɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
monkey business doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From monkey + business, probably a calque of Bengali বাঁদরামি (bãdrami, “mischief”, literally “monkey-behaviour”), from বাঁদর (bãdor, “monkey”) + -আমি (-ami, suffix forming nouns referring to the properties, qualities, or states of the words to which it is … The correct English form is monkey business, spelled M-O-N-K-E-Y- -B-U-S-I-N-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1Activity that is mischievous, stupid, or time-wasting.
- 2Activity that is morally questionable or even mildly illegal.
Etymology
From monkey + business, probably a calque of Bengali বাঁদরামি (bãdrami, “mischief”, literally “monkey-behaviour”), from বাঁদর (bãdor, “monkey”) + -আমি (-ami, suffix forming nouns referring to the properties, qualities, or states of the words to which it is attached), from the perception that monkeys behave mischievously.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “monkey business”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-N-K-E-Y- -B-U-S-I-N-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmʌŋkɪ ˌbɪznɪs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.