as in joking
marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing
ribbed him with fooling comments about how much his hair had grayed
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in deception
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in tricking
to cause to believe what is untrue
I fooled him into thinking that we were driving to the store, not to his surprise birthday party
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in kidding
to make jokes
an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience
Synonyms & Similar Words
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of fooling
James Pearce, The Athletic, 2 Jan. 2025
The ultimate aim is, with the use of multiple layers of such transformations, fooling malware classifiers into thinking malicious code is, in fact, totally benign.
—Davey Winder, Forbes, 24 Dec. 2024
But Khamenei’s bravado isn’t fooling anyone.
—Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2024
No, your calendar is not fooling you; December is here, and Christmas is right around the corner.
—Greg Manlove, Rolling Stone, 12 Dec. 2024
At one point, Stevenson, who is entering his second season, even let out a deep sigh when asked about the difficulty of covering Allen, a seasoned vet skilled in fooling defensive backs.
—Jon Greenberg, The Athletic, 21 Aug. 2024
Feminist activism wasn’t based on fooling women to give up something great.
—Marissa C. Rhodes / Made By History, TIME, 8 Oct. 2024
Verb
Liverpool are regularly seeing apps that replicate the appearance of genuine tickets — fooling not just first-time visitors to Anfield.
—James Pearce, The Athletic, 2 Jan. 2025
The ultimate aim is, with the use of multiple layers of such transformations, fooling malware classifiers into thinking malicious code is, in fact, totally benign.
—Davey Winder, Forbes, 24 Dec. 2024
But Khamenei’s bravado isn’t fooling anyone.
—Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2024
No, your calendar is not fooling you; December is here, and Christmas is right around the corner.
—Greg Manlove, Rolling Stone, 12 Dec. 2024
At one point, Stevenson, who is entering his second season, even let out a deep sigh when asked about the difficulty of covering Allen, a seasoned vet skilled in fooling defensive backs.
—Jon Greenberg, The Athletic, 21 Aug. 2024
Feminist activism wasn’t based on fooling women to give up something great.
—Marissa C. Rhodes / Made By History, TIME, 8 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fooling
Noun
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Watch on Deadline In the wake of his father’s disappearance at sea, Kojo, a young Ghanaian is drawn into a world of street gang and deception.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
14 Jan. 2025
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Directed by Su Biao, the comedy about a woman entangled in financial deception has remained a steady performer since its release on Dec. 31.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
13 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
Nile and Bernard seemed like best friends, always joking and very excited.—
David Browne,
Rolling Stone,
22 Dec. 2024
-
Not just the kind of vaudevillian two guys joking around with each other on stage, but even just as individual comedians.—
Justin Koreis,
Rolling Stone,
21 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
Just a few weeks ago former contestant Rhea Mathew returned to the stage under the ruse of helping celebrate the show's 50th anniversary, only to be surprised by her boyfriend with a proposal.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
24 Jan. 2025
-
Litton, using the name Michael Sanders, had scheduled an appointment with Feather River Adventist School principal under the ruse of enrolling his nonexistent grandson.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacramento Bee,
17 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
Arizona's temperature can be deceiving and deadly.—
Shelby Slade,
The Arizona Republic,
2 Jan. 2025
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In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration regulators who approved the 737 Max.—
Paul Wiseman,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
Calling it his novel is a bit of authorial trickery: Griffin Hurt doesn’t exist.—
Stuart Miller,
Orange County Register,
16 Jan. 2025
-
Kari Ferrell’s memoir is a zippy, intimate account of low-level trickery before the era of scams fully erupted.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
15 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
There is a precedent for such scientific subterfuge.—
Henry A. Kissinger,
Foreign Affairs,
18 Nov. 2024
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In an era rife with conspiracy theories and subterfuge, how much of those forces are products of our own doing, perhaps our imagining?—
Dana Feldman,
Forbes,
30 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Meanwhile, Tori and Rachel form a tentative alliance, planning to exert their feminine wiles over their respective male allies to keep each other safe.—
Emma Sharpe,
Vulture,
23 Oct. 2024
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For Chandler, a pink bunny suit costume activates his sensitive nature, while Phoebe deals with the wiles of her evil twin Ursula.—
Cady Lang,
TIME,
21 Oct. 2024
Noun
-
Its biting satire is complimented by engaging mechanics like the stratagems.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
28 Dec. 2024
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The competitors are in a trancelike state, building a stratagem.—
Maddie Connors,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near fooling
Cite this Entry
“Fooling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fooling. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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