Phrasal verb
fool about
Definition
phrasal verb. to behave in a silly or playful way instead of being serious or working.
phrasal verb. to behave in a frivolous or irresponsible manner; often used to describe time-wasting or playful behavior that lacks a serious purpose.
Examples
“Stop fooling about and finish your homework.”
“The children were fooling about in the garden when they accidentally broke the window.”
“While the supervisor was away, the junior staff spent most of the afternoon fooling about instead of completing the quarterly reports.”
Examples
simple
“Stop fooling about and finish your homework.”
contextual
“The children were fooling about in the garden when they accidentally broke the window.”
complex
“While the supervisor was away, the junior staff spent most of the afternoon fooling about instead of completing the quarterly reports.”
Usage
often used as a command to tell someone to focus or be serious.
Teaching tip
this is a near-synonym of 'mess around' or 'play around'; it is slightly more common in British English than American English, where 'fool around' is preferred.
Pitfall
They were fooling about the tools.
They were fooling about with the tools.
if you mention the object being played with, you must include the preposition 'with'.
Phrasal verb
Particles
about
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
fool + about
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/fool-about