fool around

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (Australia):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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Verb

fool around (third-person singular simple present fools around, present participle fooling around, simple past and past participle fooled around)

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To engage in frivolous behaviour; to monkey around.
2. (intransitive) To waste time.
3. (intransitive, informal, idiomatic) To engage in casual or flirtatious sexual acts.

   Jake has been fooling around with a married woman.

   • 1975, Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb, Jaws, spoken by Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary):

     Wanna get drunk and fool around?

4. (intransitive, informal) To engage in adultery; to play around.

Translations

1. to engage in frivolous behaviour; to monkey around (idiomatic)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鬼混 (zh) (guǐhùn)

  Xiang: 亂它 / 乱它 (lonn⁵ do²), 希望 (lonn⁵ do²)

• Danish: tosse rundt
• Finnish: hölmöillä (fi)
• French: faire l'imbécile (fr), flâner (fr)
• German: herumalbern (de)
• Ingrian: hullussella
• Japanese: ふざける (ja) (fuzakeru)
• Latin: dēsipiō
• Māori: whakarunaruna, porohīanga
• Polish: wygłupiać się impf, pajacować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: brincar (pt), encher o saco (pt)
• Russian: валя́ть дурака́ (ru) (valjátʹ duraká) (lit.: "to roll a fool"), дура́читься (ru) (duráčitʹsja)
• Spanish: tontear (es), hacer tonterías

2. to waste time

• French: traînailler (fr), se la couler douce (fr), flâner (fr)
• Polish: tracić czas (pl) impf
• Spanish: pelar la pava (es) (Spain, colloquial)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked‌: "to behave in a thoughtless or irresponsible way"

• Māori: mākahi
• Polish: zachowywać się nieodpowiedzialnie impf