Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

fool around

verb

Definition of fool around

  1. intransitive verb

  2. 1 :  to spend time idly, aimlessly, or frivolously

  3. 2 :  to engage in casual sexual activity

Read the Latest from M-W

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
image698129811
Different Ways to Say 'Nude'
emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz
alt-596f730ceb5ae
Words We're Watching: 'Scoby'

Examples of fool around in a Sentence

  1. quit fooling around on the jungle gym, or you'll get hurt

  2. spent the rainy afternoon listening to music and fooling around

First Known Use of fool around

1837

fool around Synonyms

Synonyms
act up, clown (around), cut up, horse around, hotdog, monkey (around), showboat, show off, skylark
Related Words
carry on, misbehave; roughhouse; caper, cavort, disport, frisk, frolic, gambol, lark, rollick, romp; carouse, maffick, revel, roar, wassail
Near Antonyms
buckle (down), knuckle down, set (to), settle (down)

Learn More about fool around

  1. See words that rhyme with fool around Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for fool around Nglish: Translation of fool around for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of fool around for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up fool around? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

crucible

play

a severe test

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. admiral's mast A massive search ends with an 'admiral's mast'.

  2. calumny 'An untrue statement that is made to damage someone's reputation'

  3. kakistocracy Frustrated Twitter users have been searching for this word.

  4. bona fide Made in good faith

  5. surrogate mother From TMZ to the dictionary.

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

fool around

Test Your Vocabulary

The Emoji Quiz

  • emoji-the-quiz
  • What phase of the moon is this: 🌖 ?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Add Diction

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-596f730ceb5ae
Words We're Watching: 'Scoby'

Kombucha lovers unite.

alt-596e1a928254c
Words We're Watching: 'Fidget Spinner'

Don't fight the fad

alt-5956722528373
A Nun's 'Habit' & A Mini-Skirt

They have more in common than you might think.

alt-596cccb141873
Our Verdict on 'Judgy'

Will word nerds judge you for this?

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz
image941935269
A Game of Thrones Word Quiz

In the Game of Thrones quiz, you learn some new vocabulary. (It’s quite safe, really. You will not die.)

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
Add Diction
Add Diction

Build a chain of words by adding one letter at a time.

Play the game
Examples: fool around in a Sentence