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
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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!
Noun
-
So, that's a kind of deception.
-
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.
Verb
-
The schemes involve a predator pretending to be a teenager online and tricking victims into sending illicit photos of themselves.
-
Such techniques typically work by tricking the user into approving a request to approve a device owned by the attacker instead.
Verb
-
Thursday evening, joking about his suspension last year for his comments about reactions to conservator commentator Charlie Kirk’s death.
-
Sudano said his son was a good kid who was outgoing, always joking and good-hearted.
Noun
-
Early the next morning, the authorities were at Burdette’s door, this time without a ruse.
-
Of course, this could all be a literally and figurative swift ruse on the part of the Miss Americana superstar and her Super Bowl-winning fiancé.
Verb
-
The thing is, a lot of people have a talent for deceiving the public.
-
Park and weather officials alike emphasize to Grand Canyon visitors that hiking conditions can be deceiving.
Noun
-
Now, though, summer in the south is so brutal that centuries of architectural trickery is being outmatched, and in the north, houses designed to retain heat during the winter have become furnaces in sweltering summers.
-
There's no shame, no trickery—just relief and a chance to rebuild your financial stability.
Noun
-
The Blacks’ defeat would be certain if not for dragons and subterfuge.
-
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.
Cite this Entry
“Fooling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fooling. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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