FOOLING Synonyms: 172 Similar and Opposite Words

fooling 1 of 3

adjective

as in joking

marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing ribbed him with fooling comments about how much his hair had grayed

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fooling

2 of 3

noun

as in deception

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fooling

3 of 3

verb

present participle of fool

as in tricking

to cause to believe what is untrue I fooled him into thinking that we were driving to the store, not to his surprise birthday party

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in kidding

to make jokes an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience

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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 fooling

Noun

No fooling, April brings some pretty interesting surprises on Netflix. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 27 Mar. 2026

Verb

In the highlight, Marshall retrieves the ball and oddly fires it back to the infield, fooling no one. — Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026 Anybody hoping that a Netanyahu defeat in October and the emergence of a less controversial successor will reset the table is likely fooling themselves. — Daniel Depetris, Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2026 Speaking on Harvard Business School’s The Founder Mindset podcast, hosted by senior lecturer and serial entrepreneur Reza Satchu, the Shark Tank investor argued that anyone trying to balance a young company against the rest of their life is fooling themselves. — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 17 June 2026 The other is fooling humans, particularly the dwindling number of journalists, critics, and other gatekeepers who are still capable of conferring legitimacy by paying attention. — Lane Brown, Vulture, 15 May 2026 After killing Minnesota’s first power play, the Avalanche opened the scoring when defenseman Sam Malinski scored his first career playoff goal, fooling Wallstedt with a rising wrist shot. — Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 4 May 2026 But anyone in the auto industry who didn’t feel like something was going to happen in China five years ago was fooling themselves. — Jamie Lincoln Kitman, Rolling Stone, 24 Apr. 2026 Politicians are fooling themselves about the political power of health-conscious moms. — Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 22 Apr. 2026 But Baio says Kassotis has been fooling people for years. — Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fooling

Adjective

To get a sense of his whole deal, look no further than the half-mocking, half-earnest title of his latest album, Country!

— Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2025

Definition of mocking

Noun

The investigation also found that men from 29 countries were recruited through deception or coercion to fight for Russian forces, in violation of international law.

— Edith M. Lederer, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
But the movie’s most disturbing sequence takes the deception a lot further.

— Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of deception

Verb

The top-performing red teamer on the original Arena was a lawyer from Melbourne who just happened to be good at tricking models into jumping their guardrails.

— Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026
RatHat relies heavily on tricking someone into installing a malicious Android app and approving powerful permissions.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of tricking

Verb

Naturally, Roan brought her signature candor and wit to the performance, joking around with fans in the audience.

— Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2026
On the police's Facebook account on Tuesday, officers criticized inappropriate comments and warned that sharing or joking about such incidents can worsen the impact on any victim.

— ABC News, ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of joking

Noun

When Abdul El-Sayed fundraised with members of the Soros family, Republicans said his campaign trail rhetoric about money in politics was a ruse.

— David Weigel, semafor.com, 28 Oct. 2026
In episode 4, Noah made up an elaborate ruse involving a fake friend’s wedding in Napa — a means of getting Joanne to wine country for a romantic weekend.

— Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of ruse

Verb

But looks are deceiving in this case – just like the 3X Plus and 3X before it, the trailer stretches out via three individual telescopic segments that emerge at the push of a button.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 26 Oct. 2026
Facebook’s lawyers argued that the state failed to prove whether people were actually harmed by these deceiving statements.

— Mikella Schuettler, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of deceiving

Noun

Rarely does a pop album so deftly lay bare the trickery of pop albums, while remaining a compelling pop album in its own right.

— Samuel Hyland, Pitchfork, 28 Oct. 2026
Narratively, the momentum crests at the protest, abetted by Maksimović’s most dynamic cinematic trickery — which extends to a shot from the perspective of the errant, offending stone.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of trickery

Noun

Galloping advances in technology invite subterfuge and theft.

— Sam Mullins, Foreign Affairs, 28 Oct. 2026
The series unpacks the subterfuge and secrecy required to record the interviews and how Diana and Colthurst were on high alert while making the recordings, Barefield explained.

— Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2026