tomfoolery
nounUK /ˌtɒmˈfuːlə.ɹi/ · US /ˈtɑmˌful.ɚ.i/
Etymology From Tom (a common man) + foolery.
1
Foolish behaviour or speech.
- "Do not think THAT," I put in. "It was not so at all. I grant you that my behaviour was bad—I fully confess that it was so, and make no secret of the fact. I would even go so far as to grant you that my behaviour might well be called stupid and indecent tomfoolery; but, MORE than that it was not.1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, chapter VI, in The Gambler, translated by C. J. Hogarth^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Gambler_(1867)/VI):
- Derived terms
- bumfoolery, tomfoolerous