tomfoolery

noun tom·fool·ery \ ˌtäm-ˈfül-rē , -ˈfü-lə- \

Definition of tomfoolery

:playful or foolish behavior

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Examples of tomfoolery in a Sentence

There was a lot of tomfoolery going on behind the scenes.
the open bar may have had something to do with the tomfoolery at the wedding reception

Recent Examples of tomfoolery from the Web

This becomes clear at the end, when we’re given a rousing depiction of the terrific buffoonery and crazy tomfoolery Tommy achieved at his induction ceremony.

— tirdad derakhshani, Philly.com, "'Tommy and Me' an encounter between a great Philly sportswriter and an Eagles legend," 6 Aug. 2017
From the boppin’ soundtrack to the formation of the #LawrenceHive, here are the funniest social media reactions to the first episode (Plus the cast and crew were also live-tweeting, so the tomfoolery was at its peak!).

— paula rogo, Essence.com, "#Insecure On Your Timeline: How Social Media Reacted To The Season 2 Premiere," 24 July 2017
Multiple people also pointed out the similarities between this tomfoolery and a scene from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, in which Charlie rolls into a movie theater eating spaghetti out of a bag.

— sophie hirsh, Teen Vogue, "Girl Brings Spaghetti to Movie Theater In a Plastic Bag," 14 July 2017
Valencia and Soria then exchanged words — Valencia apparently was upset at Soria’s quick-pitch tomfoolery — before Servais came on to the edge of the field to shadow his first baseman back into the dugout.

— adam jude, The Seattle Times, "No fireworks from the home bats as Kansas City beats Mariners," 3 July 2017
The rhyming names, the matching sailor suits, the tomfoolery of mistaken identities, the two-places-at-the-same-time movie plot — genetics for gags.

— anya groner, Longreads, "Twinless in Twinsburg," 9 June 2017
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky It’s been described as a cultural Chernobyl and a freak show fantasy, where music frequently takes a backseat to camp tomfoolery.

— william lee adams, Billboard, "Portugal's Salvador Sobral Quietly Wins Eurovision Song Contest," 14 May 2017
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky It’s been described as a cultural Chernobyl and a freak show fantasy, where music frequently takes a backseat to camp tomfoolery.

— william lee adams, Billboard, "Portugal's Salvador Sobral Quietly Wins Eurovision Song Contest," 14 May 2017
FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME It’s been described as a cultural Chernobyl and a freak show fantasy, where music frequently takes a backseat to camp tomfoolery.

— william lee adams, Billboard, "Portugal's Salvador Sobral Quietly Wins Eurovision Song Contest," 14 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tomfoolery.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

In the Middle Ages, "Thome Fole" was a name assigned to those perceived to be of little intelligence. This eventually evolved into the spelling tomfool, which, when capitalized, also referred to a professional clown or a buffoon in a play or pageant. The name Tom seems to have been chosen for its common-man quality, much like "Joe Blow" for an ordinary person or "Johnny Reb" for a soldier in the Confederate army, but tomfoolery need not apply strictly to actions by men. In Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (1908), for example, Marilla Cuthbert complains of Anne: "She's gadding off somewhere with Diana, writing stories or practicing dialogues or some such tomfoolery, and never thinking once about the time or her duties."