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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in deception
Related Words
1
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in kidding
to make jokes
an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 27 Mar. 2026
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
Indeed, depth would only get in the way of the plot, which is primarily concerned with fooling you and fooling you again.
—Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Watching Bedard break ankles on a nightly basis like Allen Iverson on skates, attempting one-man rushes most players couldn’t even fathom, fooling elite goaltenders with his patented drag-and-drive release, is exhilarating.
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Noun
No fooling, April brings some pretty interesting surprises on Netflix.
—K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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
Indeed, depth would only get in the way of the plot, which is primarily concerned with fooling you and fooling you again.
—Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Watching Bedard break ankles on a nightly basis like Allen Iverson on skates, attempting one-man rushes most players couldn’t even fathom, fooling elite goaltenders with his patented drag-and-drive release, is exhilarating.
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 3 Feb. 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
Noun
-
So, that's a kind of deception.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
23 June 2026
-
The county argues the grand jury fundamentally misunderstood what happened before the explosion, saying its investigation relied on speculation instead of evidence and wrongly blamed county officials for a criminal enterprise prosecutors say was built on years of deception.—
Daniel Lempres,
Sacbee.com,
23 June 2026
Verb
-
The schemes involve a predator pretending to be a teenager online and tricking victims into sending illicit photos of themselves.—
Sarah N. Lynch,
CBS News,
17 June 2026
-
Such techniques typically work by tricking the user into approving a request to approve a device owned by the attacker instead.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
Thursday evening, joking about his suspension last year for his comments about reactions to conservator commentator Charlie Kirk’s death.—
Marlene Lenthang,
NBC news,
20 June 2026
-
Sudano said his son was a good kid who was outgoing, always joking and good-hearted.—
Kerri Corrado,
CBS News,
17 June 2026
Noun
-
The ruse was surprisingly straightforward.—
Victor Tangermann,
Futurism,
17 June 2026
-
Tsietsi was delighted by the ruse.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2026
Verb
-
The thing is, a lot of people have a talent for deceiving the public.—
Juan J. Arroyo,
Rolling Stone,
21 June 2026
-
Park and weather officials alike emphasize to Grand Canyon visitors that hiking conditions can be deceiving.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 June 2026
Noun
-
Diomande can shift from zero to full throttle in seconds on either wing and beat players with raw pace, trickery or both, all with the ball stuck to his feet.—
James McNicholas,
New York Times,
9 June 2026
-
But ultimately, Williams believes AI can be an extension of editing trickery that has existed since the dawn of filmmaking.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
27 May 2026
Noun
-
There is a long history of subterfuge at World Cups — a long history of sharing injury information that isn’t exactly transparent or even accurate.—
Henry Bushnell,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
-
If the Allies had had to postpone the invasion for the next moon-tide alignment later in the month, the subterfuge would have been exposed.—
Andrea Thompson,
Scientific American,
29 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fooling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fooling. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
