horseplay
Rough-and-tumble fun
Horseplay is rough, boisterous play or fooling around—the kind of rowdy physical antics that might knock things over or get someone hurt: The lifeguard told us to cut out the horseplay.
The word typically describes behavior that's energetic and careless rather than malicious, though it often precedes trouble.
Playful mischievous acts
- anticsAbsurd, attention-seeking behavior
- shenanigansMischievous or deceitful behavior
- tomfooleryFoolish or silly behavior
- monkeyshinesFrivolous or mischievous behavior
hijinks · tricks · capers · mischievous · troublemaking · clowning · buffoonery · skylarking
Brief physical struggle
- wrestlingCombat sport requiring holds
- scuffleBrief disorderly struggle
- playfightingPretend physical conflict
- rough-and-tumbleDisorderly, physical, unpolished
jostle · grapple · shoving · tackle · pouncing · tumbling · body-slam · piggyback
Lighthearted playful movement
- rompPlayful, spirited activity
- cavortPlay with lively movement
- gambolPlayful leaping about
- larkSongbird or escapade
frolicsome · frisky · spirited · exuberant · rollicking · capering · cavorting · frolicking
Difficult to control
- rowdyNoisily disorderly
- disorderlyNot arranged neatly
- chaoticTotally without arrangement
- riotousMarked by unrestrained disorder
rowdyism · raucous · uproar · commotion · disturbance · mayhem · pandemonium · bedlam
Immature in manner
- immatureNot fully developed
- sillyFrivolous or absurd
- juvenileYoung person or animal
- foolishLacking good sense
giddy · puerile · sophomoric · locker-room · fratboy · adolescent · infantile · unsophisticated
pranks
Playful mischievous acts
- anticsAbsurd, attention-seeking behavior
- shenanigansMischievous or deceitful behavior
- tomfooleryFoolish or silly behavior
monkeyshines · hijinks · tricks · capers · mischievous · troublemaking · clowning · buffoonery · skylarking · foolery
tussle
Brief physical struggle
- wrestlingCombat sport requiring holds
- scuffleBrief disorderly struggle
- playfightingPretend physical conflict
rough-and-tumble · jostle · grapple · shoving · tackle · pouncing · tumbling · body-slam · piggyback · noogie
frolic
Lighthearted playful movement
lark · frolicsome · frisky · spirited · exuberant · rollicking · capering · cavorting · frolicking · lighthearted
unruly
Difficult to control
- rowdyNoisily disorderly
- disorderlyNot arranged neatly
- chaoticTotally without arrangement
riotous · rowdyism · raucous · uproar · commotion · disturbance · mayhem · pandemonium · bedlam · havoc
childish
Immature in manner
foolish · giddy · puerile · sophomoric · locker-room · fratboy · adolescent · infantile · unsophisticated
- Horse Idiomsdark horse, high horse, straight from the horse's mouth, horse sense, beating a dead horse
- mock combatsparring, war games, paintball, laser tag, airsoft
- reckless behaviorreckless driving, reckless endangerment, reckless abandon, dangerous driving, thrill seeking
- humorjoke, jokes, joking, comedy, comic
- playfulnessfrolic, romp, fun, mirth, glee
- behaviorshabit, aggressive, agitation, conduct, passive
horseplaygentleness
Soft, kind demeanor
carefulness · restraint · decorum · self-control · caution
horseplayseriousness
Earnest, weighty demeanor
solemnity · gravity · earnestness · soberness · studiousness