as in joking
wildly playful or mischievous behavior
the open bar may have had something to do with the tomfoolery at the wedding reception
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tomfoolery
Last year, in response to some political parodies that used images created by artificial intelligence, including one that pilloried Vice President Kamala Harris, the Legislature passed and Newsom signed two measures to outlaw such tomfoolery.
—
Dan Walters, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for tomfoolery
Dan Walters, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for tomfoolery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tomfoolery
Noun
-
Cole follows up with a joking request to appear on an interlude on the forthcoming project, then asks whether West could send him a care package of clothes — which West agrees to — before exiting the stage.—
Jessica Lynch,
Billboard,
28 Dec. 2025
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Our poll’s options include a joking reference to Dan Marino.—
Greg Cote
December 20,
Miami Herald,
20 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Death by Lightning, adapted by Mike Makowsky from Candice Millard’s 2011 nonfiction book and directed by Matt Ross, hums with the strength of these performances, particularly Shannon’s quiet composure and Macfadyen mining new depths of buffoonery.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
1 Dec. 2025
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Scholz-Carlson’s staging pushes against the deep misogyny of Da Ponte’s libretto by accentuating the buffoonery of the two male romantic leads.—
Sheila Regan,
Twin Cities,
2 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Art, meanwhile, occupies a lonely table in the pizzeria and tries to put on his best clowning act for the two women.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
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As with older clowning traditions, the early American circus clowns were adults performing taboo acts to shock and delight other adults.—
Time,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
There was reportedly no horseplay or swerving during the ride, according to 9News.—
Jessica Sager,
PEOPLE,
22 Dec. 2025
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But what had once been raucous and raunchy mischief, was now benign horseplay.—
Time,
Time,
30 Oct. 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
Noun
-
As for Abdul-Mateen, the clownery will resume for him on Broadway.—
Jessica Wang,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2022
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Tirhakah Love is a senior writer at New York Magazine and the host of the new evening newsletter Dinner Party, a daily email that touches on all things entertainment — that means film, television, music, tech, and gaming — plus politics and corporate clownery.—
Vulture,
Vulture,
29 Apr. 2022
Noun
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Park stages Man-su’s homicide attempts as slapstick set pieces in which our clumsy antihero himself barely gets out alive.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Jan. 2026
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Lee throws himself into all of it with a sad-sack slapstick energy that never undercuts—and, remarkably, even enhances—the psychological acuity of his acting.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
23 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
One of the film’s standout moments — the early kidnapping sequence — captures that precision and playfulness.—
Tiana DeNicola,
Variety,
4 Nov. 2025
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As for footwear, Kurt Geiger’s penchant for playfulness continues.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tomfoolery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tomfoolery. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
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