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frolic

[frol-ik]
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noun
  1. merry play; merriment; gaiety; fun.
  2. a merrymaking or party.
  3. playful behavior or action; prank.
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verb (used without object), frol·icked, frol·ick·ing.
  1. to gambol merrily; to play in a frisky, light-spirited manner; romp: The children were frolicking in the snow.
  2. to have fun; engage in merrymaking; play merry pranks.
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adjective
  1. merry; full of fun.
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Origin of frolic

1530–40; < Dutch vrolijk joyful (cognate with German fröhlich), equivalent to vro glad + -lijk -ly
Related formsfrol·ick·er, noun

Synonyms

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4. sport, revel.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for frolicking

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Saw there another room, flame-lit, and with frolicking children.

    Poems

    William D. Howells

  • They are laughing and frolicking on the grass, as they go along.

    Rollo on the Rhine

    Jacob Abbott

  • Instead of romping and frolicking individually they play in groups.

    The New Education

    Scott Nearing

  • Moreover, he seemed delighted to see us frolicking in this way.

  • Only they must be careful not to let their fun and frolicking give other people trouble.

    Stuyvesant

    Jacob Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for frolicking

frolic

noun
  1. a light-hearted entertainment or occasion
  2. light-hearted activity; gaiety; merriment
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verb -ics, -icking or -icked
  1. (intr) to caper about; act or behave playfully
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adjective
  1. archaic, or literary full of merriment or fun
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Derived Formsfrolicker, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Dutch vrolijk, from Middle Dutch vro happy, glad; related to Old High German frō happy
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for frolicking

frolic

1530s, as an adjective, "joyous, merry," from Middle Dutch vrolyc (adj.) "happy," from vro- "merry, glad," + lyc "like." Cognate with German fröhlich "happy." The stem is cognate with Old Norse frar "swift," Middle English frow "hasty," from PIE *preu- (see frog (n.1)), giving the whole an etymological sense akin to "jumping for joy." The verb is first attested 1580s. Related: Frolicked; frolicking. As a noun, from 1610s.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper