frolic

1 of 3

adjective

frol·​ic ˈfrä-lik How to pronounce frolic (audio)
: full of fun : merry
Contrasting the stern anxiety of his present mood with the frolic spirit of the preceding year …Nathaniel Hawthorne

frolic

2 of 3

verb

frolicked; frolicking

intransitive verb

1
: to amuse oneself : make merry
I didn't choose the school so I could frolic in the quadHugh Gallagher
2
: to play and run about happily : romp
children frolicking in the park
frolicker noun

frolic

3 of 3

noun

1
: a playful or mischievous action
2
a
: an occasion or scene of fun : party
b

Did you know?

Frolic is a word rooted in pleasure. Its most common function today is as a verb meaning “to play and run about happily,” as in “children frolicking in the waves,” but it joined the language in the 16th century as an adjective carrying the meaning of its Dutch source vroolijk: “full of fun; merry.” Shakespeare’s Puck used it this way in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, saying “And we fairies … following darkness like a dream, now are frolic.” Verb use quickly followed, and by the early 17th century the word was also being used as a noun, as in “an evening of fun and frolic.”

Examples of frolic in a Sentence

Adjective the frolic atmosphere that envelops New Orleans during Mardi Gras Verb We watched the seals as they frolicked in the harbor. children frolicking in the yard Noun We went out for a frolic in the sun. an evening of fun and frolic
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Parent heaven: a place to hang out under shade trees while the little ones frolic. Sarah Shemkus, BostonGlobe.com, 21 June 2023 Sixteen cute canines are in full frolic mode, acting silly in the snow. Christina Barron, Washington Post, 14 Nov. 2022 His family, including daughter Stella, barely 10 then, frolic by the pool playing ping-pong, lark around on the balcony that overhangs it and sit on the top of a cliff amid a lush onetime plantation. Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 1 Oct. 2022
Verb
Little Leaguers in Memorial Park often step in poop left by off-leash dogs who illegally frolic on their field. David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Nov. 2023 Or see a suite of 24 large-scale photographs of the seashore, made from existing publicity photographs of Marilyn Monroe frolicking at the beach. Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 15 Nov. 2023 Turner, 27, and Dillane, 32, were also photographed frolicking in the ocean and smiling from ear to ear while filming the beachy scene in Spain. Dory Jackson, Peoplemag, 15 Sep. 2023 Hilton was part of the Vegas crew that Spears frolicked with before she got spontaneously married for 55 hours to her childhood friend, Jason Alexander. TIME, 20 Oct. 2023 Children Wading depicts two young girls, Mary Watt and Lorna Galloway, frolicking in the surf in the Scottish town of Carnoustie during the summer of 1918. Teresa Nowakowski, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Oct. 2023 With leggings or even a cute sundress, my look frolicking around Paris, these are the perfect retro sneakers to finish your look. Gabrielle Porcaro, Travel + Leisure, 1 Oct. 2023 Other neighborhood children frolic in a playground in Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, seemingly immune to the war unfolding 6.2 miles away. Samya Kullab, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2023 Turner's colorful attire was a costume for a beach scene with costar Frank Dillane, which pictured the two frolicking in the waves, laughing and even locking lips. Celeste McCauley, Peoplemag, 15 Sep. 2023
Noun
Miller invented the naked frolic in the woods, nearly impossible afterward to peel from the history. Stacy Schiff, The New York Review of Books, 22 Dec. 2022 The Caterham is a frolic for garage-aholics, but journey nightly to that edifice prepared to grapple with a dozen childproof caps. Larry Webster, Car and Driver, 23 Aug. 2023 This undemanding frolic only wants to restore your sense of childlike play. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2023 In a 26-second teaser trailer, Peach frolics around a version of the Mushroom Kingdom that looks like a theater production. Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 21 June 2023 Now the 20 woodland creatures who invaded the Nasher’s bucolic backyard, portrayed in forest-green costumes by six Pilobolus dancers and 14 from Booker T., are back to frolic amid the artwork. Manuel Mendoza, Dallas News, 18 May 2023 At the end of Sally Potter’s Orlando, the eponymous (sorry for the big word; maybe just switch to TikTok) centuries-old gender-shifting protagonist played by Tilda Swinton sits beneath a tree while her little daughter frolics in a field before her. Spin Staff, SPIN, 2 May 2023 Degas, two years younger, took slightly longer to develop his grittier vision of Paris as a pleasure dome full of cafes, concert halls, racetracks and nighttime frolics. Tobias Grey, WSJ, 17 Mar. 2023 Pretty in Pink Dressed in a pink coat and Chanel bag, Kristin Davis frolics in fake snow on the set of And Just Like That... in New York City on March 9. People Staff, Peoplemag, 14 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'frolic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective, Verb, and Noun

Dutch vroolijk, from Middle Dutch vrolijc, from vro happy; akin to Old High German frō happy

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1548, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1589, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1616, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of frolic was circa 1548

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Dictionary Entries Near frolic

Cite this Entry

“Frolic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frolic. Accessed 2 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

frolic

1 of 2 verb
ˈfräl-ik
frolicked; frolicking
: to play about happily : romp
frolicker noun

frolic

2 of 2 noun
frol·​ic
1
: a playful or mischievous action
2
: a good time : fun

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