horseplay
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does horseplay mean? Horseplay is play that is physically rough or rowdy, such as kids wrestling around on the ground or splashing around and climbing on each other in a pool.Horseplay usually involves kids, and the word is usually used by adults telling them to knock it off because someone could get hurt or something could get broken. Horseplay isn’t typically intended to cause anyone harm—it’s usually just physical play that’s supposed to be fun. However, the word is typically used to refer to activity that’s perhaps a bit too rough.The word roughhousing can mean the same thing. Terms like hijinks, shenanigans, tomfoolery, and fooling around are used in similar ways, but while horseplay often involves pranks or silliness, the word always implies a physical aspect.The informal verb phrase horse around means to engage in horseplay.Horseplay actually has an adjective form that’s not commonly used but should be: horseplayful.Example: No horseplay in the dining room! I don’t want anything getting broken!
Other Word Forms
- horseplayful adjective
Etymology
Origin of horseplay
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.
Cartoonish horseplay would have gotten a hardier laugh.
From Los Angeles Times
Fortunately, Wilson and Mandvi are adept enough comics not to fall into that trap even as they avoid the equally damaging peril of too much audience-pandering horseplay.
From Los Angeles Times
The horseplay this entails, though gamely performed, grows dizzying.
From Los Angeles Times
“It was kids being kids. Nobody was punching anyone. It wasn’t even wrestling. It was horseplay,” the parent said.
From Los Angeles Times
Video of the horseplay prompted a good deal of online hilarity, with even the transportation department getting into the snarky act.
From Seattle Times
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.
