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  1. tomfoolery love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Foolish behavior.
  2. n. Something trivial or foolish; nonsense.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Foolish trifling; ridiculous behavior; nonsense.
  2. n. Silly trifles; absurd ornaments or knick-knacks.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Foolish behaviour
  2. n. Cockney rhyming slang jewellery.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Folly; trifling.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. foolish or senseless behavior

Etymologies

  1. Tom (a common man) +‎ foolery (Wiktionary)

Examples

  • “She made fun of what she called his tomfoolery, which prevented him from turning his position to account.”

    Renée Mauperin

  • “Five millennia of economic tomfoolery is bound to leave Egyptians confused about economic principles.”

    Letter From Egypt

  • “Whatever we get in November, it least it won't be Billary and this kind of tomfoolery!”

    Archive 2008-06-01

  • “Americans will always fall for this kind of tomfoolery, Stevey.”

    This just in: Lisbon is NOT in the Middle East

  • “But neither can the kind of tomfoolery engaged in by this very foolish Pope.”

    Juan Cole: Pope Gets It Wrong On Islam

  • “Many of the Whigs were opposed to these, regarding them as a thrust at Badger, the Register saying that they were "tomfoolery" and the work of "political mountebanks," but almost as many considered them as entirely proper, eminently timely, if indeed not rendered absolutely necessary by the national situation.”

    Party Politics in North Carolina, 1835-1860

  • “Be a change for us city chaps," he suggested; and then exploding at what he called his "tomfoolery," set the dining-net all a-quivering and shaking.”

    We of the Never-Never

  • “But when Barber saw the curtains, he called them "tomfoolery," and tore them down.”

    The Rich Little Poor Boy

  • “Yes, Sir, that's the kind of tomfoolery I've been puttin 'up with all these years, and tryin' to hide from the neighbors!”

    Shorty McCabe on the Job

  • “She didn't care about fuss and feathers, and every other kind of tomfoolery, like all the rest of you, but she was as -- as modest as a girl, and as sensitive.”

    The Iron Woman

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synonyms (3)

Words with the same meaning

  1. folly
  1. trifling
  1. fooling

hypernyms (5)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. romp
  1. frolic
  1. play
  1. caper
  1. gambol

hyponyms (9)

Words that are more specific

  1. prank
  1. frivolity
  1. buffoonery
  1. mishegoss
  1. harlequinade
  1. meshugaas
  1. japery
  1. clowning
  1. mishegaas

same context (18)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. before
  2. costuming
  3. bowwow
  1. deis
  2. punditocracy
  3. equestrians
  1. agayn
  2. tripper
  3. windbag
  1. hedaira
  2. sensualism
  3. cozenage
  1. Oregon
  2. frippery
  3. twaddle
  1. shearer
  2. barracoon
  3. anti-capitalist

reverse dictionary (7)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. horse
  1. tomfoolish
  1. tomfoolishness
  1. monkey-shine
  1. fandango
  1. spoof
  1. knavery

tags (3)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. fun
  1. favorite
  1. cvccvvcvcv

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Wordmap

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Word visualization

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘tomfoolery’.

More lists containing ‘tomfoolery’

Comments

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  • reesetee I'm sure many of them wouldn't mind standing. They do that on the subway a lot. Jun 19, 2008

  • bilby Mentally I'm translating c_b's citation as 'you've won a million human beings'. I'm not sure I'd know what to do. Would they all want to stay at my place? The kitchen's kind of spacious but there's only one couch :-( Jun 19, 2008

  • chained_bear So how is not having extraneous letters unfortunate? Think of the annual savings in ink! Paper! Typing time! Jun 19, 2008

  • reesetee Powerball is a U.S. lottery game, bilby--and also an Australian one, I believe? Jun 18, 2008

  • bilby What's a population powerball? Jun 18, 2008

  • reesetee Oh. That. ;-) Jun 18, 2008

  • rolig I suppose what johnmperry is referring to is our woeful lack of extraneous letters, compared to such British words as archaeology, foetus, oedema, apophthegm, and colour. Jun 18, 2008

  • reesetee Yes, I suspect he would. :-) Jun 18, 2008

  • chained_bear I was thinking the same thing, reesetee. It reminds me of what Bill Maher said in "When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Bin Laden": If you were born in the United States in the second half of the twentieth century, congratulations! You've won the population powerball of human history!

    (I think it appropriate that Bill Maher be quoted on the tomfoolery page. I think he'd appreciate the irony. :) ) Jun 18, 2008

  • reesetee Odd. I'm American and I don't feel unfortunate at all. Jun 18, 2008

  • johnmperry Cockney rhyming slang (usually truncated to Tom) = jewellery (or jewelry if you're unfortunate enough to be American)(except then it doesn't actually rhyme). Jun 18, 2008

  • seanahan Akin to jackassery. Aug 16, 2007

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‘tomfoolery’ has been looked up 3114 times, loved by 11 people, added to 96 lists, commented on 12 times, and has a Scrabble score of 18.