high jinks

American  

[hahy-jingks] / ˈhaɪˌdʒɪŋks /

Or hijinks

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. boisterous celebration or merrymaking; unrestrained fun.

   The city is full of conventioneers indulging in their usual high jinks.

   Synonyms:

   horseplay

---

high jinks British  

/ ˈhaɪˌdʒɪŋks /

noun

1. lively enjoyment

---

high jinks Idioms  

1. Playful or rowdy activity, often involving mischievous pranks. For example, All sorts of high jinks go on at summer camp after “lights out.” About 1700 this term denoted a gambling game accompanied by much drinking, but by the mid-1800s it acquired its present meaning.

---

Etymology

Origin of high jinks

First recorded in 1760–70; see origin at jink

Example Sentences

The “Sonic” and “Minecraft” films did their duty by hiring pretty good comedy writers to connect the gaming high jinks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

McDonald is game for the high jinks but doesn’t always seem natural gamboling about the stage.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2025

Yet the comic high jinks, star-crossed lovers and long-lost relatives that pop up in his play “The Miser,” first produced in 1668, will be instantly familiar to anybody who has ever seen a Shakespeare comedy.

From New York Times • May 3, 2024

“Ain’t Got No Home,” which reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, became Henry’s signature hit and definitively captured his humor and his vocal high jinks.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 12, 2024

Smith’s high jinks with the press and Seabiscuit’s recent history of scratches had come back to haunt him.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

• antic
• horseplay
• prank