fool around
verb
variants
or chiefly British fool about
fooled around; fooling around; fools around
1
: to behave in a way that is not very serious
When it comes to safety, we don't fool around.
often, specifically
: to spend time idly, aimlessly, or frivolously
Later in the day, the three of us were fooling around, waiting for Mr. Michaels to get class started. —
Marilyn Reynolds
Marilyn Reynolds 2
: to engage in casual sexual activity
She found out that her partner had been fooling around on her. [=having sex with someone else]
see also fool around with
Synonyms
Examples of fool around in a Sentence
quit fooling around on the jungle gym, or you'll get hurt
we fooled around outdoors for a while, then went in to get some work done
Recent Examples on the Web
Why fool around with a convention that everyone understood and practiced?
—Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 7 Oct. 2024
Flashbacks peppered throughout the first several episodes reveal that Yasmin caught her father fooling around with a pregnant woman on the boat.
—Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 16 Sep. 2024
What begins as an overstayed welcome between two new lovers — awkwardly fooling around in the path of a metaphysical apocalypse — blooms into a surreal, ever-scarier, and ever-changing look at the emotion of transhumanism.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 10 Sep. 2024
Having pretty well saturated the drone enthusiast market, from professional filmmakers to hobbyists who just likes to fool around with geeky gadgets, DJI are now going after a much bigger and potentially more profitable market.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 6 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for fool around 
Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 7 Oct. 2024
Flashbacks peppered throughout the first several episodes reveal that Yasmin caught her father fooling around with a pregnant woman on the boat.
—Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 16 Sep. 2024
What begins as an overstayed welcome between two new lovers — awkwardly fooling around in the path of a metaphysical apocalypse — blooms into a surreal, ever-scarier, and ever-changing look at the emotion of transhumanism.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 10 Sep. 2024
Having pretty well saturated the drone enthusiast market, from professional filmmakers to hobbyists who just likes to fool around with geeky gadgets, DJI are now going after a much bigger and potentially more profitable market.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 6 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for fool around
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fool around.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fool around
Cite this Entry
“Fool around.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fool%20around. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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