tomfoolery


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tom·fool·er·y

 (tŏm-fo͞o′lə-rē)
n. pl. tom·fool·er·ies
1. Foolish behavior.
2. Something trivial or foolish; nonsense.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tomfoolery

(ˌtɒmˈfuːlərɪ)
n, pl -eries
1. foolish behaviour
2. utter nonsense; rubbish
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tom•fool•er•y

(ˌtɒmˈfu lə ri)

n., pl. -er•ies.
foolish or silly behavior.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.tomfoolery - foolish or senseless behaviortomfoolery - foolish or senseless behavior  
foolery, lunacy, craziness, folly, indulgence
frolic, gambol, romp, caper, play - gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement; "it was all done in play"; "their frolic in the surf threatened to become ugly"
meshugaas, mishegaas, mishegoss - (Yiddish) craziness; senseless behavior or activity
buffoonery, clowning, harlequinade, japery, prank, frivolity - acting like a clown or buffoon
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

tomfoolery

noun
1. foolishness, messing around (informal), shenanigans, clowning, stupidity, larks (informal), fooling around (informal), silliness, idiocy, skylarking (informal), horseplay, buffoonery, childishness Were you serious, or was that a bit of tomfoolery?
foolishness seriousness, sobriety, solemnity, heaviness, sternness, demureness, sedateness
2. nonsense, rot, tosh (slang, chiefly Brit.), rubbish, pants (slang), trash, bunk (informal), bilge (informal), twaddle, baloney (informal), claptrap (informal), hogwash, poppycock (informal), inanity, balderdash, bosh (informal), stuff and nonsense, hooey (slang), tommyrot, bunkum or buncombe (chiefly U.S.) That sounds like post-modernist toomfoolery.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

tomfoolery

noun
1. Foolish behavior:
absurdity, folly, foolery, foolishness, idiocy, imbecility, insanity, lunacy, madness, nonsense, preposterousness, senselessness, silliness, zaniness.
Informal: craziness.
2. Annoying yet harmless, usually playful acts:
devilry, deviltry, diablerie, high jinks, impishness, mischief, mischievousness, prankishness, rascality, roguery, roguishness.
Informal: shenanigan (often used in plural).
3. Something that does not have or make sense:
balderdash, blather, bunkum, claptrap, drivel, garbage, idiocy, nonsense, piffle, poppycock, rigmarole, rubbish, trash, twaddle.
Informal: tommyrot.
Slang: applesauce, baloney, bilge, bull, bunk, crap, hooey, malarkey.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
bárgyúságostobaságsületlenség

tomfoolery

[tɒmˈfuːlərɪ] N → payasadas fpl, tonterías fpl
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

tomfoolery

[ˌtɒmˈfuːləri] n → espièglerie f
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

tomfoolery

n → Blödsinn m, → Unsinn m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

tomfoolery

[ˌtɒmˈfuːlərɪ] n → sciocchezze fpl
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
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References in classic literature ?
They encourage their owners in the tomfoolery, and the consequence is that in the circles I am speaking of what "dear Fido" has done, does do, will do, won't do, can do, can't do, was doing, is doing, is going to do, shall do, shan't do, and is about to be going to have done is the continual theme of discussion from morning till night.
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Small sticks burned by the Chinese in their pagan tomfoolery, in imitation of certain sacred rites of our holy religion.
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I would even go so far as to grant you that my behaviour might well be called stupid and indecent tomfoolery; but, MORE than that it was not.
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"We have had enough of this tomfoolery," he said scornfully.
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"She's gadding off somewhere with Diana, writing stories or practicing dialogues or some such tomfoolery, and never thinking once about the time or her duties.
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D'Artagnan," exclaimed Aramis, "I have long ago given up all such tomfoolery."
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"I have been told of this infernal tomfoolery," he said, "but I didn't believe it till now.
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It takes two to make a row, and I, for one, refuse to have anything to do with such tomfoolery."
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"Anyway, all this tomfoolery is a great waste of time," continued the lady, glancing up and down the jury disparagingly.
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An end to the silly confusion, under the one name of Art, of the tomfoolery and make-believe of our play-hours with the higher methods of teaching men to know themselves!
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'We are in a civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind.
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"There's some tomfoolery going on here that has to be investigated."
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