1. Characterized by a feeling of irresponsibility
   "a broken back is nothing to be casual about; it is no fooling matter";
   - casual

1. Make a fool or dupe of
   "The con artist fooled his victims with an elaborate investment scheme";
   - gull, befool [archaic]
    
2. Fool or hoax
   "You can't fool me!";
   - gull, dupe, slang [archaic, informal], befool [archaic], cod [Brit, informal], put on, take in, put one over [informal], put one across [informal]
    
3. Behave in a foolish, fun way; indulge in horseplay
   "The bored children were fooling about"; "Enough fooling around—let's get back to work!";
   - horse around [informal], arse around [Brit, Cdn, informal], fool around, muck about [Brit, informal], kid around [informal], arse about [Brit, Cdn, informal], muck around [Brit, informal], screw around [informal]
    
4. Spend frivolously and unwisely
   "He fooled away his inheritance on trivial pursuits";
   - fritter, frivol away, dissipate, shoot, fritter away, fool away

See also: light

Type of: betray, consume, cozen [literary], deceive, delude, jest, joke, lead astray, lead on, play, squander, ware [archaic], waste

Encyclopedia: Fooling