Lucius ShepardLorenzo Benet
Synonyms
Examples of prank in a Sentence
Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 7 Sep. 2023
And maybe some parts of Thank You Very Much really are just pranks, executed with a very straight face by Braverman.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Aug. 2023
Amongst some of the most infamous incidents were one in which Franke refused to bring food to school for her 6-year-old daughter, who had forgotten to pack her own lunch, and another in which one of their sons said he was being forced to sleep on a beanbag after playing pranks on his brothers.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 31 Aug. 2023
As the officer returns to his car to process the ID, the duo continues their sale prank.
—Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Aug. 2023
After suffering through a horrible prank on her birthday, Jenna makes a birthday wish—to grow up.
—Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 7 Aug. 2023
As a part of his education, someone, as a prank on me, began teaching him common phrases that had plagued my youth.
—The Salt Lake Tribune, 10 Sep. 2023
In recent years, other TikTok trends have shown adults pulling pranks on their children, including pretending to smear poop on their kids or throwing cheese on their baby’s face.
—Victoria Bisset, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Aug. 2023
While parents partaking in the prank likely see it as lighthearted fun, some TikTok users also expressed concern that the children are being hurt or humiliated.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 23 Aug. 2023
Fortesa Latifi, Washington Post, 6 Sep. 2023
Some viral videos from earlier this month showed adults pranking other adults with the egg trend, one of which has more than 14 million views.
—Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 22 Aug. 2023
Waymo has called the traffic cone pranks vandalism.
—Yiwen Lu, New York Times, 9 Aug. 2023
Plus, some sneaky stuff the actor used to prank his guests.
—Pamela Wright, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Aug. 2023
On Thursday, a player decided to prank The Portal, a gaming blog that uses AI to pump out articles about World of Warcraft and other games.
—Michael Kan, PCMAG, 21 July 2023
Ray says the group would prank Warhol by dangling a blaring radio on a rope outside the artist’s window.
—Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2023
Enjoy the day by pranking – or being pranked – and take a look back at Cincinnati's April Fools' Day jokes over the years.
—Victoria Moorwood, The Enquirer, 1 Apr. 2023
The movie then slows down to give a shattered Fabietto room to experience everything around him anew, which is when his interest in cinema becomes more than watching his wannabe-actor brother audition for Fellini’s new film, or his mother invoke Franco Zeffirelli to prank a haughty neighbor.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2021
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prank.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
obsolete prank to play tricks
Verb (2)
probably from Dutch pronken to strut; akin to Middle High German gebrunkel glitter of metal
Noun
circa 1529, in the meaning defined above
Verb (1)
circa 1530, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Verb (2)
15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense
Dictionary Entries Near prank
Cite this Entry
“Prank.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prank. Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.
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Kids Definition
prank
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on prank
Nglish: Translation of prank for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of prank for Arabic Speakers
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