Synonyms of fool around

fool around

verb

1

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

• horse around
• cut up
• clown (around)
• show off
• monkey (around)
• act up
• revel
• roar
• hotdog
• showboat
• carry on
• misbehave
• skylark
• lark
• cavort
• romp
• frisk
• frolic
• caper
• gambol
• carouse
• roughhouse
• rollick
• maffick
• wassail
• disport

2

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

• play
• goof (around)
• fiddle (around)
• mess around
• hang about
• monkey (around)
• putter (around)
• potter (around)
• kick around
• trifle
• doodle
• fribble
• hang (around or out)
• horse around
• lounge
• clown (around)
• idle
• dawdle
• loaf
• tinker
• diddle (with)
• loll
• dillydally
• dally

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• set (to)
• settle (down)
• buckle (down)
• knuckle down

Example Sentences

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