These words all refer to movement that is high-spirited, zestful and exuberant. Frisk suggests quick, playful eager movements: dogs frisking about in the courtyard; letting the children frisk and scramble all day on the beach. The emphasis of frolic is close to that of frisk , but it stresses even more a playful, joyous activity: a playground where children skip and generally frolic without a worry in the world. Frolic , furthermore, can apply to a whole series of actions marked by joy, whereas frisk tends to suggest specific individual movements.

Caper and gambol are like frisk in indicating certain kinds of movement. Caper is the most specific of these, suggesting a dance-like way of jumping or leaping with a lively, bounding motion: teenagers capering kids. Gambol suggests an impulsive series of skipping, bounding or jerking movements that may seem unsteady, uneven or erratic: lambs gambolling in the meadow after their more sedate mother ewe.