make a monkey out of

present singular third person makes a monkey out of · participle present making a monkey out of · participle past made a monkey out of · past made a monkey out of · alternative make a monkey of

1. idiomatictransitiveTo cause a person, group, or action to appear foolish or inferior; to subject someone or something to ridicule.

   It is very difficult to make a monkey out of policy makers who can read and write and can argue a case logically.

   2008 April 28, Zafar Altaf, “Changing the resource base in farming”, in Pakistan Dawn, retrieved 04 Oct 2008

   2 more examples

   The rough old sealer swore some terrible oaths, protesting "that he would not make a monkey of himself, by appearing in this garb."

   1835, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 10, in The Monikins

   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.

   1960 May 30, “Vive la R”, in Time