frolic
Americannoun
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frolics
plural
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merry play; merriment; gaiety; fun.
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a merrymaking or party.
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playful behavior or action; prank.
verb (used without object)
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frolics,
present (3rd person singular)
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frolicked,
past participle, past
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frolicking
present participle
adjective
noun
-
a light-hearted entertainment or occasion
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light-hearted activity; gaiety; merriment
verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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frolicsimple
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frolicssimple
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have frolickedperfect
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has frolickedperfect
-
am frolickingprogressive
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are frolickingprogressive
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is frolickingprogressive
-
have been frolickingperfect progressive
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has been frolickingperfect progressive
Past
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frolickedsimple
-
had frolickedperfect
-
was frolickingprogressive
-
were frolickingprogressive
-
had been frolickingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of frolic
1530–40; < Dutch vrolijk joyful (cognate with German fröhlich ), equivalent to vro glad + -lijk -ly
Explanation
A frolic is a light-hearted, fun, often silly activity. To frolic is to cavort, romp, or run around — to have fun. Ever see two puppies playing in the park, wrestling, chasing, and just having a ball with each other? You could say they're having a frolic or frolicking. When we frolic, we're having a fun time. Flying a kite, playing frisbee, skipping around, and having a picnic could be examples of frolics. If things are grim and serious, or you're in a bad mood, then it's tough to frolic. This is one of the happiest, most playful words in the dictionary.
Vocabulary lists containing frolic
Party Parlance for Mardi Gras
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"Nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It may also continue to haunt us forever after, as in the bone-clanking, teeth-chattering, spookily percussive 1929 animated Disney cartoon frolic, “The Skeleton Dance.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
It’s a rare chance for the kids in this neighbourhood to play outside together, in a space big enough to frolic and safe from traffic.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Traipsing through genres and time periods, these excursions are an opportunity for Bi and his creative team to frolic in various cinematic sandboxes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
There, the boys frolic and dream amid cinder block walls.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2024
COLIC: colicky frolic: frolicked, frolicker, frolicking GARLIC: garlicky mimic: mimicked, mimicking panic: panicked, panicking, panicky picnic: picnicked, picnicker, picnicking POLITICS: politicker, politicking traffic: trafficked, trafficker, trafficking playwright.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
There are spats and hugs, frolics and bonding, and not much thrust to the tale.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2025
Beatrix Potter’s tales about the frolics and misadventures of Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin, Jemima Puddle-Duck and other animals have charmed children around the globe for well over a century.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
It also includes unseen live performances and backstage frolics.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2021
In it, a mermaid looks at the Atlantic through a telescope as a seal frolics near her fin.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 21, 2019
“I don’t mean to act any more after this time. I’m getting too old for such things,” observed Meg, who was as much a child as ever about ‘dressing-up’ frolics.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
"It's getting beyond a joke for a small country town," Peter Hainsworth, 81, told AFP as tourists frolicked on the rolling hills nearby.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
The border collie, who’s been enlisted to shoot daily videos for French TV, frolicked up and down the carpet ahead of the opening ceremony.
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024
These huge, nearly grown cats frolicked, racing beside our ATV as we drove the fence line and sparring on their hind legs—behavior I’d seen only in wild tigers.
From National Geographic ● Nov. 2, 2023
Gaetz frolicked in the pungent aroma of his own stench like a dog admiring its flatulence.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2023
They frolicked around, slamming into each other, breaking fortifications, and generally having an excellent time.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
Follow the instructions below and you’ll be frolicking among blooms near L.A. before you can say “I’m taking Friday afternoon off!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
Some videos show puppies frolicking or close-ups of squirrels, others stream loops of squishy toys enjoyed by other animals or humans.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
When she was ruling Egypt and frolicking with Mark Antony, the Sphinx had already been buried up to its neck in sand for thousands of years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
The Dodgers easily swept the best-of-three duel with the overmatched Reds on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium with a frolicking 8-4 victory … just in time to uneasily hike into the home of heated hardball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2025
And soon, newborn calves were frolicking around the farm.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
