1
as in horsed 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
2
as in played
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 fooled around
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
Joe McKendrick, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fooled around
Verb
-
Curry played in five games after surgery to repair a broken second metacarpal.—
Jerry McDonald,
Mercury News,
10 May 2026
-
Nobody had seen a second round playoff game played in Minnesota in more than a decade.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
10 May 2026
Verb
-
That map would have cut up Indianapolis into four new districts, securing a Republican edge.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
6 May 2026
-
In the carousel of photos, McGillivray is seen cutting up food and raising it to Hogan's husband Steven Oleksy's mouth.—
Colson Thayer,
PEOPLE,
5 May 2026
Verb
-
And of course, the little princess showed off her royal wave!—
Stephanie Petit,
PEOPLE,
2 May 2026
-
Edmonton showed off its postseason poise in Game 5, throttling the Ducks in a 4-1 victory and putting the onus on their inexperienced opponents to finish off the series.—
Greg Beacham,
Los Angeles Times,
2 May 2026
Verb
-
In the email, Dixon suggested that the fire department employee may have messed around with the department's equipment.—
Adam Thompson,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
And of course, Peterson not playing would have made some wonder if the McDonald’s All-American’s hamstring had acted up again.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
7 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
That bill's kicked around on the House's calendar for a few weeks now.—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
13 Apr. 2026
-
People were kicked around in the pit, pancaked at the front of the stage, and the crowd surfing had a 90% fail rate.—
Deborah Sengupta Stith,
Austin American Statesman,
17 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fooled around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fooled%20around. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
