as in clowned (around)
to engage in attention-getting playful or boisterous behavior
the boys were horsing around on the boat when one of them fell overboard
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for horsed around
Verb
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On Sunday, with her lip cut up and puffy, Barber thanked Grasso for the rematch.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
31 Mar. 2026 -
Or mixed up the sausage filling and Justin’s potato into a kind of hash brown patty, fried them off like Brittany did with the livermush crostini last week, cut up the collard greens into ribbons, and put that on top of the potato and pork?—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Not too long ago, artificial intelligence was more or less a science project in which data scientists and developers fooled around with one-off small or test projects.—
Joe McKendrick,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The Factbook showed off American intelligence capabilities to the former Soviet Union and other enemies.—
Laurie Kellman,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Apr. 2026
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Motorola, Oppo, and others showed off similar hardware at press events and trade shows, presenting the rollable as the next evolution of foldables.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
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And of course, Peterson not playing would have made some wonder if the McDonald’s All-American’s hamstring had acted up again.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
7 Dec. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Horsed around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/horsed%20around. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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