English · Idiom Candidate

monkey paw

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A situation where a wish is fulfilled, but with unexpected and undesirable consequences.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Tình huống mà một mong muốn được thực hiện nhưng với hậu quả không mong muốn

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: a paw of a monkey

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The company's wish for more sales was granted, but it became a monkey paw as they couldn't meet demand.

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Topics: Monkeys

Common questions

What does “monkey paw” mean?

A situation where a wish is fulfilled, but with unexpected and undesirable consequences. Literally: a paw of a monkey

Is “monkey paw” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.