How to Use tomfoolery in a Sentence

tomfoolery

noun
  • There was a lot of tomfoolery going on behind the scenes.
  • The tomfoolery ceased and this was his sixth inning to steady.
    — Chandler Rome, Houston Chronicle, 15 June 2018
  • Be careful and look out for more of your mom's tomfoolery.
    — Charna Flam, People.com, 25 Aug. 2025
  • One of the bikes breaks easily in the face of a little tomfoolery.
    — Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, 9 Mar. 2021
  • No facial tomfoolery there; the process is as fast as the pause between rounds one and two of a standard match.
    — Sam MacHkovech, Ars Technica, 13 June 2022
  • The post even revealed some of the tomfoolery that goes on when the actors are not yet in character.
    — Julia Moore, Peoplemag, 3 June 2024
  • The postseason is no place for such shenanigans or tomfoolery.
    — Ted Berg, USA TODAY, 8 Oct. 2017
  • There is no hint that a bit of AI tomfoolery happened in this picture.
    — Janhoi McGregor, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024
  • All this tomfoolery dents the reputation of the marathon, which is among the fastest-growing in the world.
    — The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019
  • This isn't the first case of April Fools' tomfoolery from BabyQuip.
    — Mike Snider, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2025
  • Check out the slideshow above for all of Tesla’s Cybertruck tomfoolery.
    — Elizabeth Blackstock / Jalopnik, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024
  • Rite of passage or midnight tomfoolery?
    — Jake Allen, IndyStar, 10 Sep. 2025
  • But enough of all that tomfoolery, because there is one person on the beach who knows exactly what is about to happen!
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Nov. 2025
  • This is just a different stage for performing the tomfoolery.
    — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 17 Dec. 2017
  • But hey, at least her particular brand of right-wing tomfoolery isn’t headed down under.
    — Abby Monteil, Them, 28 Oct. 2024
  • Max's memories of my dad as a fun grandpa who frequently engaged in tomfoolery are not off the mark.
    — Good Housekeeping, 22 Mar. 2021
  • For this year's April Fools' tomfoolery, personal care is again a top target.
    — Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2022
  • Of course, the Scientologists were none too pleased with his tomfoolery.
    — Diego Ramos Bechara, Variety, 30 Aug. 2024
  • Here's to another round of race weekend tunes and the tomfoolery that accompanies them.
    — Domenica Bongiovanni, The Indianapolis Star, 21 May 2024
  • Idris Elba is the British prime minister (and ex-soldier) who has no time for his tomfoolery.
    — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 12 July 2025
  • Men are getting in on the tomfoolery too, with a handful now playing the part of a worried Eliza in their own video versions.
    — Leslie Katz, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Marketing gimmick, internet-era tomfoolery, or a sign of the times?
    — Chris Roberts, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2021
  • What the attendees get is an instant city, with events and plenty of counterculture tomfoolery, over nine days.
    — Peter Fimrite, SFChronicle.com, 31 Dec. 2019
  • Cities love to put their amateur Photoshop skills to work or fire off a social media post for some low-stakes tomfoolery.
    — Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2024
  • The Jazz are 15-35, which puts them at the sixth pick if zero lottery-ball tomfoolery happens.
    — Zach Harper, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
  • And Axios co-founder Mike Allen relays his take on the tomfoolery bewitching the swamp.
    — Jon Kelly, The Hive, 27 Oct. 2017
  • Fortunately, there are far more people in important positions who don’t want any part of this tomfoolery.
    — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Rob Lowe and his real-life son, John Owen Lowe, are coming back for more onscreen tomfoolery.
    — Julia Moore, Peoplemag, 6 May 2024
  • Another aspect to note is that the AI didn’t ridicule me or otherwise play any tomfoolery about my worries.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025
  • The rhyming names, the matching sailor suits, the tomfoolery of mistaken identities, the two-places-at-the-same-time movie plot — genetics for gags.
    — Anya Groner, Longreads, 9 June 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tomfoolery.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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