as in hijinks
wildly playful or mischievous behavior
the open bar may have had something to do with the tomfoolery at the wedding reception
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 tomfoolery
Be careful and look out for more of your mom's tomfoolery.
—
Charna Flam, People.com, 25 Aug. 2025
For instance, in between Avi’s 2004 plane ride that starts the episode’s main arc and its last-second flash-forward to 2022, the premiere revels in the rapid wordplay of a gentile girlfriend meeting a vibrant Jewish family and the general tomfoolery of a jubilant bar mitzvah.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 22 Aug. 2025
Fortunately, there are far more people in important positions who don’t want any part of this tomfoolery.
—Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
Men are getting in on the tomfoolery too, with a handful now playing the part of a worried Eliza in their own video versions.
—Leslie Katz, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tomfoolery
Charna Flam, People.com, 25 Aug. 2025
For instance, in between Avi’s 2004 plane ride that starts the episode’s main arc and its last-second flash-forward to 2022, the premiere revels in the rapid wordplay of a gentile girlfriend meeting a vibrant Jewish family and the general tomfoolery of a jubilant bar mitzvah.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 22 Aug. 2025
Fortunately, there are far more people in important positions who don’t want any part of this tomfoolery.
—Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
Men are getting in on the tomfoolery too, with a handful now playing the part of a worried Eliza in their own video versions.
—Leslie Katz, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tomfoolery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tomfoolery
Noun
-
Jones eventually got into his joking bag, and Bleek took that opportunity to seriously set the record straight one last time.—
Armon Sadler,
VIBE.com,
15 Oct. 2025
-
And their joking comments about their relationship never help the matter.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Their relationship, tentative, intimate, and defiant, lingers long after the satirical skewering of male buffoonery has faded.—
Leila Latif,
IndieWire,
5 Sep. 2025
-
He’s been tinkering with this messaging on and off since damn near the start of the century, when his criticism of the genre shifted from the power-holding executives (both white and Black) of the music industry who were profiting off buffoonery, a la Bamboozled, to rap music itself.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Finally, after plenty of clowning, Taylor Swift has revealed that her 12th album is on the way, titled The Life of a Showgirl.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
13 Aug. 2025
-
This is a work in which the slapstick clowning and the tricky verbal non sequiturs should be merely the surface for roiling undercurrents of anguish, futility, despair and fear.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2019
Noun
-
Butch Baker, who was Henry County sheriff until 2014, recalled an incident in which Bertram was accused of inappropriate horseplay at the community corrections office.—
Tony Cook,
IndyStar,
2 July 2025
-
The action anime feature for everyone who couldn’t get enough of the horseplay in The Two Towers has finally cantered onto Max.—
Savannah Salazar,
Vulture,
1 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The whole of humanity doesn’t fit tidily into three acts, even assuming as much frame-breaking foolery as Wilder allows.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2022
-
Political pranking is traditionally thought of as benign foolery targeting the powerful.—
Stanislav Budnitsky,
The Conversation,
19 Apr. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Tomfoolery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tomfoolery. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share