frolic
Americannoun
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frolics
plural
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merry play; merriment; gaiety; fun.
-
a merrymaking or party.
-
playful behavior or action; prank.
verb (used without object)
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frolics,
present (3rd person singular)
-
frolicked,
past participle, past
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frolicking
present participle
adjective
noun
-
a light-hearted entertainment or occasion
-
light-hearted activity; gaiety; merriment
verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
frolicsimple
-
frolicssimple
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have frolickedperfect
-
has frolickedperfect
-
am frolickingprogressive
-
are frolickingprogressive
-
is frolickingprogressive
-
have been frolickingperfect progressive
-
has been frolickingperfect progressive
Past
-
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’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
This was not the barefoot frolic I knew from picnics, not the game of lazy parabolas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
There, the boys frolic and dream amid cinder block walls.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2024
Elementary-age viewers flock to Kaven’s channel to watch him navigate new games on Roblox, frolic through lavish Disney vacations and unbox surprise egg toys — entertainment most teen and adult observers find baffling but anodyne.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2024
He did not think for a moment that this man wanted him to frolic at feasts.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Clue: It begins with B and rhymes with frolics.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2023
When it’s not locked, her son frolics in the playground.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2020
When someone frolics at the nadir for as long as he has, there’s nowhere to go but sideways.
From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2018
The hard black seeds that passed rapidly through the guts of those big, hairy beasts likely found good places to grow in the wakes of their canopy-opening frolics.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 14, 2018
“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
Two more blue whales frolicked in the distance, keeping out of their way.
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
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
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
Used primarily as an office building, its ornate design, carvings and sculptures — including a ground floor fountain with frolicking bronze youths — hadn’t invited much public attention or appreciation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2026
The frolicking angels populate concentric bands of other clouds that extend upward.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
My first vacation with Dad’s family since my parents split when I was eleven and it’s like I’m a visitor among the earthlings frolicking on a beach in Florida.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
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.
