pranked; pranking
1
transitive
: to play a trick or prank on (someone)
… you feel shock, dismay, then anger as it dawns on you that you've been pranked …—
Lucius Shepard
Lucius ShepardOn the day of the ceremony, a stuntwoman pal, dressed to look like Swanson, kicked things off by pranking the audience and falling down a flight of stairs. (The crowd went from gasping to laughing once the ruse was revealed.)—Lorenzo Benet
Lorenzo Benet2
pranked; pranking; pranks
: to show oneself off
: to dress or adorn gaily or showily
Synonyms
Examples of prank in a Sentence
Noun
He enjoys playing pranks on his friends.
as a prank, several students managed to change all the classroom clocks to different times
Recent Examples on the Web
Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 16 Jan. 2025
Dylan's vision was a kind of variety show gone wild, packing the evening with songs, costumes, poetry, and pranks, much of it caught on film.
—Debby Wolfinsohn, EW.com, 11 Jan. 2025
Michael Russo, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
By the end of 1992, Time magazine was writing in Important Ways about Gen X, Nirvana had caused a kind of moral panic at the disco, Sub Pop had pranked the New York Times about grunge slang, and suddenly everybody knew about this exciting and possibly worrying new phenomenon.
—Jim Greer, SPIN, 24 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for prank 
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Noun
Some prank culture now is short-attention-span theater.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 16 Jan. 2025
Dylan's vision was a kind of variety show gone wild, packing the evening with songs, costumes, poetry, and pranks, much of it caught on film.
—Debby Wolfinsohn, EW.com, 11 Jan. 2025
Verb
Foligno had one main guess as to who pranked him: Gustavsson.
—Michael Russo, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
By the end of 1992, Time magazine was writing in Important Ways about Gen X, Nirvana had caused a kind of moral panic at the disco, Sub Pop had pranked the New York Times about grunge slang, and suddenly everybody knew about this exciting and possibly worrying new phenomenon.
—Jim Greer, SPIN, 24 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for prank
Dictionary Entries Near prank
Cite this Entry
“Prank.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prank. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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