Frolic

WOTD - 2 October 2007    

English

Adjective

Frolic (comparative more Frolic, superlative most Frolic)

1. (now rare) Merry, joyous; later especially, frolicsome, sportive, full of playful mischief.
   • 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:

     Beale, under this frolic menace, took nothing back at all; he was indeed apparently on the point of repeating his extravagence, but Miss Overmore instructed her little charge that she was not to listen to his bad jokes [...].

2. (obsolete, rare) Free; liberal; bountiful; generous.

Noun

Frolic (plural Frolics)

1. Gaiety; merriment.
   • 1832-1888, Louisa May Alcott

     ...filled the souls of old and young with visions of splendor, frolic and fun.

2. A playful antic.

Verb

Frolic (third-person singular simple present Frolics, present participle frolicking, simple past and past participle frolicked)

1. (intransitive) To romp; to behave playfully and uninhibitedly.
2. (transitive, archaic) To cause to be merry.

Derived terms

• rollick

Adjectives for Frolic

carnal; lively; midnight.

Adverbs for Frolic

boyishly; gleefully; jocundly; winsomely; exuberantly; sportively; blithesomely; drunkenly.

Thesaurus

antic, beam, caper, caracole, carol, carouse, carry on, cavort, celebration, chirp, chirrup, clap hands, curvet, cut a dido, cut capers, cut up, dance, delight, dido, disport, escapade, exult, festivity, flounce, fool around, frisk, fun and games, gaiety, gambado, gambol, glory, glow, have fun, hell, high jinks, horse around, horseplay, jollification, jollity, joy, jubilate, lark, laugh, lilt, make whoopee, merriment, merrymaking, mirth, monkeyshine, monkeyshines, party, partying, play, practical joke, prank, radiate cheer, rejoice, revel, revelry, riot, roister, rollick, romp, shenanigan, shenanigans, shines, sing, skip, skip for joy, skylark, skylarking, smile, sparkle, sport, spree, tomfoolery, trick, trip, waggish trick, wassail, whistle

Etymology

From Dutch vrolijk (“cheerful”). Compare German fröhlich (“blitheful, gaily, happy, merry”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈfɹɒlɪk/, SAMPA: /"frQlIk/
• (US) IPA: /ˈfɹɑːlɪk/, SAMPA: /"frA:lIk/

• Audio (US)

  noicon

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒlɪk

Translations

Noun

gaiety; merriment

Russian: веселье (ru) n.

playful antic

Estonian: vallatlemine (et) Finnish: temmellys, kisailu

German: Scherz (de) m.

The translations below need to be checked.

Translations to be checked

Japanese: お祭り騒ぎ（おまつりさわぎ, omatsuri sawagi）

Verb

behave playfully and uninhibitedly

Chinese: 嫐 (nǎo) Dutch: plezier maken (nl), dollen (nl), pret maken (nl), keten (nl) Estonian: vallatlema (et) Finnish: temmeltää (fi), kisailla (fi), ilotella (fi), karkeloida (fi) French: fôlatrer German: scherzen (de) Italian: sgambettare (it)

Japanese: 浮かれ騒ぐ（うかれさわぐ, ukare sawagu） Polish: baraszkować (pl), dokazywać (pl), figlować (pl), swawolić (pl) Russian: резвиться (rezvít’s’a), проказничать (prokázničat’) Spanish: juguetear (es), retozar (es) Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Swedish: please add this translation if you can

See also

• cavort

Related terms

• frolicsome

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, 1989