Nathaniel HawthorneHugh Gallagher
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Frolic is a word rooted in pleasure. Its most common function today is as a verb meaning “to play and run about happily,” as in “children frolicking in the waves,” but it joined the language in the 16th century as an adjective carrying the meaning of its Dutch source vroolijk: “full of fun; merry.” Shakespeare’s Puck used it this way in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, saying “And we fairies … following darkness like a dream, now are frolic.” Verb use quickly followed, and by the early 17th century the word was also being used as a noun, as in “an evening of fun and frolic.”
Examples of frolic in a Sentence
Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Sep. 2024
Parent heaven: a place to hang out under shade trees while the little ones frolic.
—Sarah Shemkus, BostonGlobe.com, 21 June 2023
Amanda Kooser, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
Flakes stuck to their fur as the bears frolicked and somersaulted.
—Alana Wise, NPR, 7 Jan. 2025
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2025
Over and over, between the jokes and the frolics, Jackman demonstrates his unguardedness and ready affection, hugging the occasional person returning from the bathroom, or welling up on camera, with sorrow, or overwhelmed gratitude, or both.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 31 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frolic
Cite this Entry
“Frolic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frolic. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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