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

Years of deception, half-truths, and emotional compromises finally surface, forcing Rasheda, Geneva, Naomi, Tiffany, and Bridgette to confront not just the men in their lives, but one another.

— Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 27 Aug. 2026
Prevention of fraud, deception and public accountability are reasons given for this suggestion.

— Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of deception

Verb

An English springer spaniel in Alabama loves nothing more than spending her whole day in the pool and has taken to tricking her parents into letting her into the pool every day.

— Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2026
In many cases, the robot tail wags the living dog by tricking it—tricking us—into caring about obscure metrics, then gamifying the process of improving them.

— Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of tricking

Verb

After joking that the world had finally realized women were simply worse at directing than men, Gyllenhaal gave a serious answer.

— Nate Jones, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026
While James was joking about Ferguson, 66, joining the show, the former Duchess of York does have a history of major TV cameos.

— Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of joking

Verb

Williams will not be charged because Heggebo’s offence was successfully deceiving a match official.

— Graham Scott, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Your eyes aren't deceiving you — the little delivery robots rolling down Washington DC streets are becoming a more common sight.

— Mike Stunson, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of deceiving

Noun

Between the huge practical sets and stunts, the matte paintings and in-camera trickery, the on-location filming, and a leading man at the height of his movie star powers, Spielberg and his team performed the filmmaking equivalent of wizardry.

— Frank DeRuggiero, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Sep. 2026
Football is all about engaño (trickery) — looking one way and passing the other, feinting to go left and swiftly moving right, manipulating the opposition and tricking them to open up those little spaces.

— Xavi, New York Times, 19 July 2026