rick-roll

verb

To surprise or trick (someone) into hearing this song.

Meanings

rick-roll1

verbrick-roll (third-person singular simple present rick-rolls, present participle rick-rolling, simple past and past participle rick-rolled)

present singular third person rick-rolls · participle present rick-rolling · participle past rick-rolled · past rick-rolled

  1. alternativeAlternative form of rickroll.
nounrick-roll (plural rick-rolls)

plural rick-rolls

  1. alternativeAlternative form of rickroll.

    This seems much more likely to be the work of a talented but inexperienced individual. […] The rick-roll in the code seems juvenile and unprofessional.

    2020, William O’Sullivan, Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo, Nhien-An Le-Khac, “Defending IoT [Internet of Things] Devices from Malware”, in Nhien-An Le-Khac, Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo, editors, Cyber and Digital Forensic Investigation: A Law Enforcement Practitioner’s Perspective (Studies in Big Data; 74), Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 10

Rick-Roll2

verbRick-Roll (third-person singular simple present Rick-Rolls, present participle Rick-Rolling, simple past and past participle Rick-Rolled)

present singular third person Rick-Rolls · participle present Rick-Rolling · participle past Rick-Rolled · past Rick-Rolled

  1. alternativeAlternative form of rickroll, particularly
  2. Alternative form of rickroll
    1. To surprise or trick (someone) into hearing this song.

      She paused, blinked, then looked at me. "Did you Rick-Roll me?"

      2017 April, Chloe Neill, “Scales of Justice”, in Blade Bound (A Chicagoland Vampires Novel; 13), New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 286
Cite this entry
APA

rick-roll. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rick-roll

MLA

“rick-roll.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rick-roll. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rick-roll,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rick-roll.

Source: rick-roll on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.