fool around

English

Pronunciation

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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.

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

Translations

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
• Maori: whakarunaruna, porohīanga
• Polish: wygłupiać się (pl), pajacować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: molestar (pt), encher o saco (pt)
• Russian: валя́ть дурака́ (ru) (valjátʹ duraká) (lit.: "to roll a fool"), дура́читься (ru) (duráčitʹsja)

to behave in a thoughtless or irresponsible way

• Maori: mākahi

to waste time

• French: traînailler (fr), se la couler douce (fr), flâner (fr)
• Spanish: pelar la pava (es) (Spain, colloquial)