cavorting

[kuh-vawr-ting]

adjective

1. romping or capering playfully about; frolicking.

   Here you can see Arctic life up close—snowy owls, white foxes, cavorting polar bear cubs, and the amazing sled dogs.

2. behaving in a high-spirited, playful way.

   During a game of musical statues, the shy boy stood motionless in the middle of the cavorting group.

3. partying or behaving in an unrestrained way, often with the implication of sexual activity.

noun

1. the act of frolicking playfully about, behaving in a high-spirited or unrestrained way, or partying, often with the implication of sexual activity.

   Recent reports of drunken cavorting with a 19-year-old model have damaged the mayor’s squeaky-clean image.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cavorting¹

First recorded in 1835–45; cavort ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; cavort ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun sense

Example Sentences

Lady Gaga is also teetering around on crutches, cavorting with zombies and crossing the River Styx.

Read more on BBC

"Anyone who saw the pilot cavorting naked in the early hours on the day before a flight would not dream of getting on a plane with him at the controls."

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At the age of 80, he's still cavorting around the world, playing sold out shows, recording new music and even writing a book about his beloved model train set.

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Masked protesters, dancing and cavorting around burning American flags.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The perennially under-construction compound, with its “oleander … and old milk cartons … R. Crumb comics, empty tea and coffee mugs, and ashtrays,” was often inhabited, Moon writes, by naked strangers “cavorting or making candles.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• boisterous 
• jaunty 
• joyful 
• joyous 
• lighthearted 
• merry 
• spirited 
• sprightly