cavort
/kəˈvɔːt
/verb [no object]
1Jump or dance around excitedly: the players cavorted about the pitch...
- Sir Willard White was a superb Mephistopheles: his ‘Song of the Flea’ danced and cavorted, and he had plenty of menace when it was needed.
- How the Italians cavorted and jumped for joy at the final whistle; how the Scots looked broken and demoralised.
- People walk across the water; they cavort, splash, dance - and finally someone falls from a great height and vanishes entirely.
Synonyms
skip, dance, romp, jig, caper, cut capers, frisk, gambol, prance, frolic, play, lark;
bounce, trip, leap, jump, bound, spring, hop, bob
dated sport
rare rollick
1.1 informal Engage enthusiastically in sexual or disreputable pursuits: he’d been cavorting with a hooker...
- Ibiza, of course, tends to attract those who actively seek public attention - why else would minor stars spend their nights cavorting on the dance floors of the island's mega nightclubs?
- He's been up all night cavorting with models (or so my puerile mind imagines) and now he's watching telly while I'm working.
- She cuts loose at night however, cavorting around town with her boyfriend and perfecting the art of ‘swinging,’ i.e. sharing their beds with other couples.
Origin
Late 18th century (originally US): perhaps an alteration of curvet.