Nathaniel HawthorneHugh Gallagher
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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
Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Sep. 2024
Parent heaven: a place to hang out under shade trees while the little ones frolic.
—Sarah Shemkus, BostonGlobe.com, 21 June 2023
New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 20 Apr. 2025
Apparently, Hadid spent the first day of the new year frolicking in the snow in a bright red bikini.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 29 Jan. 2025
Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 11 Apr. 2025
The team of researchers released video footage capturing almost a decade of the small white creatures’ arctic frolics, providing a rare look at how polar bear cubs behave when emerging from their dens.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frolic
Cite this Entry
“Frolic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frolic. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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