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 move 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
Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 26 June 2025
Pods of porpoises frolic, and a playful minke whale shimmers in the afternoon sun.
—Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Sep. 2024
Jacqueline Kehoe, AFAR Media, 15 Oct. 2025
The trio lets their imaginations drift, stretching out ideas of structure and frolicking with unexpected arrangements, often midsong.
—Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 10 Oct. 2025
Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 13 Oct. 2025
Tim Plough’s day started next to the Pacific Ocean, watching young sons Jackson, Camden and Bodie frolic in the sand and surf at Pismo Beach.
—Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 5 Oct. 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 31 Oct. 2025.
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