monkey's paw
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.53 in modern English
24
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A situation in which a wish or desire has been fulfilled, but at significant cost or with ironic, usually unfavourable consequences.
noun
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see monkey, paw.
Example Sentences
- "It’s given me everything I thought I wanted – riches, lucre, affluence, having lots of money, and being very wealthy – but with monkey’s-paw precision it’s turned all my dreams against me."
- "It’s a monkey’s paw of a legacy, to have birthed an immortal gastronomic titan but not to have attained immortality of one’s own."
- "For many people, the extended period of quarantine and working from home necessitated by the coronavirus outbreak has turned into a monkey’s paw situation — a theoretical wish come true that has significant downsides."
- "One person joked that Chet was the result of a monkey's paw situation with his father. ¶ 'Chet hanks is the price tom hanks paid to become tom hanks,' they wrote."
Etymology
From the 1902 short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs, in which a mummified monkey's paw is enchanted to grant a family three wishes, but with terrible consequences for them. Popularised by a segment based on Jacobs' story in the 1991 episode "Treehouse of Horror II" of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.