Synonyms of high jinks

high jinks

plural noun

ˈhī-ˌjiŋks 

variants also hijinks

as in joking

wildly playful or mischievous behavior

despite the team's dismal record, the players have won over many fans with their exuberant high jinks

Synonyms & Similar Words

• joking
• nonsense
• shenanigan(s)
• funning
• horsing around
• monkeying
• monkey business
• tomfoolery
• buffoonery
• sporting
• clowning
• monkeyshine(s)
• playfulness
• skylarking
• roughhousing
• roughhouse
• horseplay
• clownery
• slapstick
• mischief
• foolery
• prankishness
• deviltry
• rumbustiousness
• rowdyism
• clownishness
• childishness
• trickery
• jesting
• rowdiness
• boisterousness
• rambunctiousness
• mischievousness
• silliness
• roguishness
• foolishness
• rascality
• gambolling
• revelry
• merrymaking
• frivolity
• sportiveness
• waggery
• cavorting
• frolicking
• roguery
• impishness
• romping
• devilry
• knavery
• gamboling
• roistering

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of high jinks

This painting becomes the center of a scheme to weaken Cosimo’s reputation, and Benvenuto Cellini, sculptor, goldsmith and all-around scoundrel, is hired to steal it — a choice that leads to some of the most hilarious high jinks in the book. —Chelsea Leu, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025

McDonald is game for the high jinks but doesn’t always seem natural gamboling about the stage. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2025

There, Elliot and Ridley pull up with a small motionless unicorn in the car that soon proves very much alive; high jinks ensue with enough scrambling silliness to suggest that Scharfman is also familiar with Abbott and Costello. —Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025

During Modern Family’s side-splitting 11-year run, there were numerous episodes filled with high jinks and all-out dysfunction. —Demarco Williams, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2025