make a monkey out of

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English

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Alternative forms

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Verb

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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.
    • 1835, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 10, in The Monikins:
      The rough old sealer swore some terrible oaths, protesting "that he would not make a monkey of himself, by appearing in this garb."
    • 1960 May 30, “Vive la R”, in Time:
      Across France last week, doctors were trying to make a monkey of the government-controlled health-insurance system. . . . Doctors in many départements went on informal strike.
    • 2008 April 28, Zafar Altaf, “Changing the resource base in farming”, in Pakistan Dawn, retrieved 4 Oct. 2008:
      It is very difficult to make a monkey out of policy makers who can read and write and can argue a case logically.