as in joking
marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing
ribbed him with fooling comments about how much his hair had grayed
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in deception
Related Words
1
as in tricking
to cause to believe what is untrue
I fooled him into thinking that we were driving to the store, not to his surprise birthday party
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in kidding
to make jokes
an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fooling
K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 27 Mar. 2026
Lane Brown, Vulture, 15 May 2026
After killing Minnesota’s first power play, the Avalanche opened the scoring when defenseman Sam Malinski scored his first career playoff goal, fooling Wallstedt with a rising wrist shot.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 4 May 2026
But anyone in the auto industry who didn’t feel like something was going to happen in China five years ago was fooling themselves.
—Jamie Lincoln Kitman, Rolling Stone, 24 Apr. 2026
Politicians are fooling themselves about the political power of health-conscious moms.
—Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 22 Apr. 2026
But Baio says Kassotis has been fooling people for years.
—Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2026
Indeed, depth would only get in the way of the plot, which is primarily concerned with fooling you and fooling you again.
—Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Watching Bedard break ankles on a nightly basis like Allen Iverson on skates, attempting one-man rushes most players couldn’t even fathom, fooling elite goaltenders with his patented drag-and-drive release, is exhilarating.
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Jan. 2026
Noun
No fooling, April brings some pretty interesting surprises on Netflix.
—K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 27 Mar. 2026
Verb
The other is fooling humans, particularly the dwindling number of journalists, critics, and other gatekeepers who are still capable of conferring legitimacy by paying attention.
—Lane Brown, Vulture, 15 May 2026
After killing Minnesota’s first power play, the Avalanche opened the scoring when defenseman Sam Malinski scored his first career playoff goal, fooling Wallstedt with a rising wrist shot.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 4 May 2026
But anyone in the auto industry who didn’t feel like something was going to happen in China five years ago was fooling themselves.
—Jamie Lincoln Kitman, Rolling Stone, 24 Apr. 2026
Politicians are fooling themselves about the political power of health-conscious moms.
—Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 22 Apr. 2026
But Baio says Kassotis has been fooling people for years.
—Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2026
Indeed, depth would only get in the way of the plot, which is primarily concerned with fooling you and fooling you again.
—Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Watching Bedard break ankles on a nightly basis like Allen Iverson on skates, attempting one-man rushes most players couldn’t even fathom, fooling elite goaltenders with his patented drag-and-drive release, is exhilarating.
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fooling
Adjective
-
To get a sense of his whole deal, look no further than the half-mocking, half-earnest title of his latest album, Country!—
Jonathan Bernstein,
Rolling Stone,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
But the dramatic vision-boosting reputation carrots have carried for decades traces back to a wartime deception, not science.—
Samantha Agate,
Sacbee.com,
15 June 2026
-
The deception group reported the steepest drop in symptoms.—
Samantha Agate,
Kansas City Star,
13 June 2026
Verb
-
Posts from other Knicks fans say the user tried tricking them as well.—
Tim McNicholas,
CBS News,
12 June 2026
-
Such techniques typically work by tricking the user into approving a request to approve a device owned by the attacker instead.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
The post also included a video of Ron sitting at a dinner table joking about salmon.—
Angelique Brenes,
PEOPLE,
11 June 2026
-
While Diana was clearly joking in her letters with Stamp, the former Princess of Wales was famously open about her mental health—which has had a trickle-down effect of her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, being open about theirs.—
Rachel Burchfield,
InStyle,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
Olive’s fake-dating ruse stems from wanting to let her best friend Anh (Marsh) date her crush Jeremy (Duvernay).—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
11 June 2026
-
Adolf Hitler wasn’t completely fooled, and about four million mines were planted on the beaches, but the ruse worked well enough that, even as the landings got underway, some German commanders doubted Normandy was the main attack.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
But O’Malley writes that this is deceiving.—
Livia Gershon,
JSTOR Daily,
9 June 2026
-
He was also accused of deceiving escrow agents to secure the release of pre-construction condo deposits and then misappropriated those funds for personal expenses unrelated to the developments.—
Jay Weaver
June 6,
Miami Herald,
6 June 2026
Noun
-
But ultimately, Williams believes AI can be an extension of editing trickery that has existed since the dawn of filmmaking.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
27 May 2026
-
Consider, too, relatively new forms of trickery, such as manipulating substitution procedures or spying on rivals.—
Cesar R. Torres,
The Conversation,
26 May 2026
Noun
-
If the Allies had had to postpone the invasion for the next moon-tide alignment later in the month, the subterfuge would have been exposed.—
Andrea Thompson,
Scientific American,
29 May 2026
-
Jakirovic was speaking before the EFL’s independent commission came down heavy on Southampton’s subterfuge.—
Philip Buckingham,
New York Times,
22 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fooling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fooling. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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