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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in kidding
to make jokes
an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in deception
Related Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fooling
Roberta Matuson, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Stop fooling yourself and listen.
—Richard B. Williams, Denver Post, 10 Sep. 2025
And tech companies must do far more in the design of AI systems to prevent people fooling themselves into thinking these systems are conscious beings.
—Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
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
Myatt has already served time for his fooling art auction houses and others into buying his copies of others’ art, and got out of jail for doing just that in 1999.
—The Editors Of Artnews, ARTnews.com, 1 Apr. 2025
The Naperville City Council election is April 1 (not fooling).
—Naperville Sun, Chicago Tribune, 18 Mar. 2025
Chunky and at times fooling no one with its meandering character logic, there’s a reason most of the awards this film went to Hopkins.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 17 Mar. 2025
Noun
Your press release isn’t fooling anyone.
—Roberta Matuson, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Stop fooling yourself and listen.
—Richard B. Williams, Denver Post, 10 Sep. 2025
And tech companies must do far more in the design of AI systems to prevent people fooling themselves into thinking these systems are conscious beings.
—Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
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
Myatt has already served time for his fooling art auction houses and others into buying his copies of others’ art, and got out of jail for doing just that in 1999.
—The Editors Of Artnews, ARTnews.com, 1 Apr. 2025
The Naperville City Council election is April 1 (not fooling).
—Naperville Sun, Chicago Tribune, 18 Mar. 2025
Chunky and at times fooling no one with its meandering character logic, there’s a reason most of the awards this film went to Hopkins.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 17 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fooling
Verb
-
The perfectly still water creates a flawless mirror image of the stalactites above, tricking your eyes into seeing a vast, bottomless lake.—
Alexandra Emanuelli,
Southern Living,
16 Sep. 2025
-
What does work is tricking her into pressing a button that knocks her out.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Robinson wasn’t joking, the charging document alleges.—
Corky Siemaszko,
NBC news,
17 Sep. 2025
-
In short, the women had a great time playing the games, joking around with each other and enjoying the mild weather at the indoor/outdoor bar.—
Brad Schmitt,
Nashville Tennessean,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
But there’s some deception at play.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Stories of similar scenes are sweeping Puerto Rico—raids without court orders, marked by deception and racial profiling, often regardless of legal status.—
Israel Melendez Ayala,
Time,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The honeymoon phase can be deceiving.—
Essence,
Essence,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Share your horror at learning that this person is deceiving family members and basically stealing from them.—
Harriette Cole,
Mercury News,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Despite spending the whole three-hour awards show telling people that their overlong speeches were losing the Boys & Girls Club of America money, the bit was a ruse.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Police said McGriff employed the ruse to access the couple's Queens residence and then set it ablaze.—
Joshua Rhett Miller,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Corona del Mar used some trickery to take the lead on the ensuing possession.—
Michael Huntley,
Oc Register,
13 Sep. 2025
-
Or, some serious internal trickery.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The act of subterfuge was particularly common in the 2000s, amidst America’s unpopular foreign policy and the country’s invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.—
Vivian Song,
CNN Money,
18 Sep. 2025
-
The trial was a kangaroo circus packed with sophism, subterfuge, and courtroom chicanery.—
Manuel Muñoz,
Literary Hub,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Seeing Laura’s discomfort with her, Cherry employs her feminine wiles to cause a fracture in Laura and Daniel’s connection.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Maye was 15-for-25 for 184 yards with a touchdown and an interception wile rushing four times for 24 yards.—
Michael Hurley,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fooling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fooling. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.
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