# prank

/ˈpɹæŋk/ (US) · /pɹˈæŋk/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/prank
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. a practical joke

noun · CEFR B1

a trick that you play on someone to make people laugh.

For teachers: a practical joke or mischievous act intended to provoke laughter or surprise at the expense of a target.

- The students played a prank on their teacher by hiding all the whiteboard markers.
- What started as a harmless office prank quickly escalated when the manager failed to see the humour in having his desk wrapped in foil.

### 2. to play a joke on someone

verb · CEFR B2 · Informal

to play a trick on someone to make them look foolish.

For teachers: to subject someone to a practical joke or deceptive trick. Transitive — requires a direct object representing the person being tricked.

- He tried to prank his sister by putting a fake spider in her bed.
- The teenagers spent the evening trying to prank their friends with anonymous phone calls and edited photos.

### 3. to dress up showily

verb · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Literary

to dress yourself in very bright or fancy clothes to get attention.

For teachers: to dress or adorn oneself in a showy, ostentatious, or vain manner. Often used with 'out' or 'up' in literary contexts.

- The young lord was pranked in his finest silk and gold for the festival.
- She sat before the mirror, pranking herself in jewels and velvet as if preparing for a royal audience rather than a simple dinner.

## Examples

- He played a harmless prank on his sister by hiding her shoes.
- The students planned a sophisticated prank for their final day of school involving hundreds of balloons.
- While some view the office prank as a healthy way to relieve stress, others argue it can undermine professional boundaries and create a hostile environment.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.