fooling 1 of 3

adjective

Definition of foolingnext
as in joking
marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing ribbed him with fooling comments about how much his hair had grayed

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fooling

2 of 3

noun

as in deception

Synonyms & Similar Words

fooling

3 of 3

verb

present participle of fool
1
as in tricking
to cause to believe what is untrue I fooled him into thinking that we were driving to the store, not to his surprise birthday party

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in kidding
to make jokes an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fooling
Verb
James cuts back inside onto his right foot, fooling the defender, rather than going to the byline off his left foot. — Beren Cross, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025 Each plays a role in fooling their foe, who captures the turtle, while the deer, heeding the turtle’s good counsel, manages a sly escape. — John Nemec, The Conversation, 7 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fooling
  1. deception
  2. joking
  3. ruse
  4. deceiving
  5. trickery
  6. subterfuge
  7. wile
  8. stratagem
Noun
  • Yet, 78% of victims who pay experience repeat attacks, demonstrating that these assurances are nothing more than strategic deception.
    — Stu Sjouwerman, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
  • This tactic is described as the deliberate deception of datasets that AI models — such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok 3, Perplexity and others — train on by flooding them with disinformation.
    — Tor Constantino, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Definition of deception
Verb
  • For myself and many of my classmates, the four-story Forever 21 in Times Square was the most exciting part of our senior-class trip to New York City—not joking!
    — Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2025
  • And, everyone was joking about it behind his back.
    — Todd Nordstrom, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
Definition of joking
Noun
  • Frank This character doing all the heavy lifting to keep Rick’s ruse afloat and Sam Rockwell doing all the heavy lifting to keep this plot interesting: Thank you for your service, gentlemen.
    — Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2025
  • This is, of course, a ruse to put Rick in the same room with Jim, who, according to his mother on her deathbed, killed his do-gooder dad.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 31 Mar. 2025
Definition of ruse
Verb
  • The show, hosted by actor Alan Cumming and set in a remote Scottish castle, features reality TV veterans and celebrities working together—and often deceiving each other—in challenges for a cash prize.
    — Raja Krishnamoorthi, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Apr. 2025
  • Augusta National will quickly expose even the most microscopic weakness in one’s game with its winding fairways and deceiving putting surfaces.
    — Gabby Herzig, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Definition of deceiving
Noun
  • Criticisms and claims of trickery are at times pointed out.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025
  • But there is no science supporting this trickery in the case of the weight-loss drugs.
    — Stephen Moore, Boston Herald, 21 Mar. 2025
Definition of trickery
Noun
  • His delivery of Mantel’s dialogue—modern, intelligent, bristling with implication and subterfuge—is mesmerizingly clear.
    — Taylor Antrim, Vogue, 20 Mar. 2025
  • With a bit of guidance, navigating between the classic go-to’s and the newer dining options are scattered throughout the properties can lead to incredible culinary discoveries, plenty of popping champagne bottles and even a dash of historical subterfuge.
    — Alissa Fitzgerald, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2025
Definition of subterfuge
Noun
  • Finn Bjork totaled 16 points and 12 rebounds wile Dom Taylor poured in 18 points as No. 6 Somerset Berkley advanced to the Division 2 State title game with a 66-58 win over No. 7 Masconomet on Monday night at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium on the campus of UMass Boston.
    — Matt Feld, Boston Herald, 11 Mar. 2025
  • That seems like an awfully optimistic reading of Trump’s strategic wiles.
    — David Remnick, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2025
Definition of wile
Noun
  • The scene is straight out of a stratagem by Pier Paolo Pasolini (Bertolucci’s mentor), but Palud takes it literally without applying comparable ideological critique to the rest of her film.
    — Armond White, National Review, 28 Mar. 2025
  • Its biting satire is complimented by engaging mechanics like the stratagems.
    — David Faris, Newsweek, 28 Dec. 2024
Definition of stratagem

Browse Nearby Words

foolhardy
fooling
fooling around
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Cite this Entry

“Fooling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fooling. Accessed 18 Apr. 2025.

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