to boop someone on the forehead

8.4

To tap someone's forehead lightly to be playful or show love

phrasal verb

Informal

: dar un golpecito en la frente

Whenever he was being silly, he would boop someone on the forehead to make them laugh.

Examples

She gently booped someone on the forehead and called it her signature move.
During the meeting, Tom resisted the urge to boop someone on the forehead for making a funny comment.
She playfully booped someone on the forehead as a gesture of affection.
Whenever they teased each other, he would boop someone on the forehead to lighten the mood.
To show his silly side, he often booped someone on the forehead during their friendly banter.

Synonyms

to boop

vsto boop someone on the forehead

Texting

1 8.1

To touch a nose or cheek lightly as a playful act

aims at the upper part of the face rather than nose or cheek

How Playful

to bonk

Informal

5 7.6

to boop someone on the forehead

Informal

8.4

to touch

∞ 1.0

to rest on someone's shoulder

1 2.8

Surface Forms

boop someone on the forehead infinitive

booped someone on the forehead past

booped someone on the forehead past participle

booping someone on the forehead present participle

boops someone on the forehead third person singular

Morphology

boop + someone + on + the + forehead

The meaning 'to tap someone lightly and playfully on the forehead' is directly and literally composed from 'boop' (to touch or tap lightly/playfully) + the locative phrase 'on the forehead'. There is no idiomatic or metaphorical shift, and the verb + prepositional phrase pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would understand it.

Etymology

The phrase boop someone on the forehead comes from the tiny, soft tap people make with a finger, a little boop, on the forehead, like touching a pet's nose to be playful. So it now means a light, 'affectionate' or 'silly' tap.