fool about
phrasal verb.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.
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.
- play around
- mess about
- goof off
- clown around
- Particles
- about
- Separability
- inseparable
- Pattern
- fool + about
often used as a command to tell someone to focus or be serious.
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.
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'.
Last updated April 24, 2026