FOOL AROUND Synonyms: 51 Similar and Opposite Words

fool around

verb

Definition of fool around

as in to horse around

to engage in attention-getting playful or boisterous behavior quit fooling around on the jungle gym, or you'll get hurt

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in to play

to spend time in aimless activity we fooled around outdoors for a while, then went in to get some work done

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of fool around Bella Ramsey takes a break from killing zombies and avenging father figures, their usual pastimes in series The Last of Us, to fool around and fall in love in Sunny Dancer, a decidedly uneven but fitfully charming, YA-skewed British comedy-drama. — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 13 Feb. 2026 The transition was rough for Ansari, who wasn’t fluent in English and often got in trouble for fooling around in school. — Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026 Not too long ago, artificial intelligence was more or less a science project in which data scientists and developers fooled around with one-off small or test projects. — Joe McKendrick, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026 Gisin hopes that by fooling around with measurements of these more exotic states, physicists will come to better understand the role of measurement in general. — Quanta Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fool around

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fool around

Verb

And lo, that’s how The Godfather wound up horsing around on a bouncy sorta-rap cut with London’s club muse and scene gadfly Normski.

— Gabriel Szatan, Pitchfork, 2 Nov. 2026
Also, don’t get too out of control horsing around with friends in the water.

— John Natale, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2026

Definition of horse around

Verb

The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Purdue transfer, cleared by the courts to play courtesy of a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against the NCAA, came off the bench to score nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.

— Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 3 Nov. 2026
That forced Edmonds and former Horned Frog David Punch (now at Texas) to play lengthy minutes and have to worry about foul trouble.

— Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of play

Verb

Californios’ reign began to vanish even before the discovery of gold, when droughts and floods wiped out their easygoing livelihoods, and their lands were cut up, sold off, and their land grants swept aside by the new state.

— Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2026
The board's original proposal called for cutting up to 18 English learner teachers across the district.

— Beret Leone, CBS News, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of cut up

Verb

The constraint of the task encourages a deeper looking, and gives us, part of a society suspicious of aimless activity, an excuse to mess around and explore a strange world.

— Joseph Ogilvy, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2026
Godrich likens his approach to inviting friends over to come and mess around in the kitchen.

— Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of mess around

Verb

They can be planted along foundations, add height and layers to flower beds, or planted as an accent to show off fall color, beautiful blooms, or other interesting features.

— Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 6 Nov. 2026
His wife and frequent collaborator Bianca Censori sat front row, naturally showing off one of her husband’s latest boot designs.

— Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of show off

Verb

President James Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, died by hanging about five months after he was convicted of murder.

— USA Today, USA Today, 17 June 2026
On Monday, May 18, a 7%-illuminated crescent will hang about two degrees from Venus, with Jupiter about 20 degrees above.

— Jamie Carter, Space.com, 15 May 2026

Definition of hang about

Verb

But sleep was hard to come by, with her daughter’s asthma acting up and the anxiety of the hearing the following day.

— Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2026
Six weeks later, when that integration acts up again, the institutional memory that used to shorten the investigation may not be there.

— Sanjay Gidwani, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of act up

Verb

In other words, the idea of turning roads into giant wireless chargers has been kicking around for years, and some projects are now producing encouraging results rather than just concept illustrations.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 18 Oct. 2026
Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask Laneige’s Lip Sleeping Mask has been kicking around Allure editors’ nightstands for years, and judging by its 2025 Readers’ Choice Award, plenty of you are just as hooked.

— Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of kick around

Browse Nearby Words

fool's paradises

fool around

fooled

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Fool around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fool%20around. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of fool around

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

impertinent

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes