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
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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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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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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
I think Kier would approve this moment of frolic for him and his mother.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2025
There, the boys frolic and dream amid cinder block walls.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2024
On the fourth night, guests waded through rose petals a foot deep as they crossed the deck to feast and frolic in Cleopatra’s company.
From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby
Most of the country frolics into fall with hot spiced drinks and cute chunky sweaters, but in L.A., we’re forced to cosplay the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2024
It also includes unseen live performances and backstage frolics.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2021
“I mean, one frolics, but I’ve always been work-oriented; I get defined by my work. I probably think about work more than anything else in my life. I was goal-oriented when I was 10.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 28, 2019
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
In Chicago, people who would normally be in winter gear to fight off the city’s famously bitter winter winds instead frolicked around Lake Michigan’s shores in light jackets or even shorts and T-shirts.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 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
Wind frolicked the skirt and made the scarecrow sway—made it seem a creature forlornly dancing in the cold December field.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
We would be sipping ice-cold spritzes at cafés overlooking the Mediterranean, frolicking down cobblestone streets lined with charming boutiques, and marveling at the frescoes and marble sculptures adorning grand cathedrals.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
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
There are light, fond echoes of François Truffaut’s frolicking ode to cinematic fakery “Day for Night” and Ingmar Bergman’s bumpy ride on memory road “Wild Strawberries.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
Laila knew that the days of innocent, unhindered frolicking in the streets with Tariq had passed.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
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.
