Nathaniel HawthorneHugh Gallagher
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Frolic is a word rooted in pleasure. Its most common function today is as a verb meaning “to play and run about happily,” as in “children frolicking in the waves,” but it joined the language in the 16th century as an adjective carrying the meaning of its Dutch source vroolijk: “full of fun; merry.” Shakespeare’s Puck used it this way in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, saying “And we fairies … following darkness like a dream, now are frolic.” Verb use quickly followed, and by the early 17th century the word was also being used as a noun, as in “an evening of fun and frolic.”
Examples of frolic in a Sentence
Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Sep. 2024
Parent heaven: a place to hang out under shade trees while the little ones frolic.
—Sarah Shemkus, BostonGlobe.com, 21 June 2023
David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2025
At the Bronx Zoo in New York City, snow leopards and bears enjoyed frolicking in the flurries Tuesday.
—Patrick Smith, NBC News, 12 Feb. 2025
Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
The young lead has a wonderfully magnetic presence, veering between youthful frolic and pensive gloom, even though the film rarely creates circumstances where the latter makes sense.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 18 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frolic
Cite this Entry
“Frolic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frolic. Accessed 15 Mar. 2025.
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