foolish

adjective

fool·​ish ˈfü-lish 

1

: having or showing a lack of good sense, judgment, or discretion

a foolish mistake

She takes foolish risks.

2

a

: absurd, ridiculous

He looked foolish in that hat.

b

: marked by a loss of composure : nonplussed

He felt foolish when he couldn't remember where he had parked the car.

3

: insignificant, trifling

foolishly adverb

Synonyms

• absurd
• asinine
• balmy
• brainless
• bubbleheaded
• cockeyed
• crackpot
• crazy
• cuckoo
• daffy
• daft
• dippy
• dotty
• fatuous
• featherheaded
• fool
• half-baked
• harebrained
• half-witted
• inept
• insane
• jerky
• kooky
• kookie
• loony
• looney
• lunatic
• lunkheaded
• mad
• nonsensical
• nutty
• preposterous
• sappy
• screwball
• senseless
• silly
• simpleminded
• stupid
• tomfool
• unwise
• wacky
• whacky
• weak-minded
• witless
• zany

Choose the Right Synonym for foolish

simple, foolish, silly, fatuous, asinine mean actually or apparently deficient in intelligence.

simple implies a degree of intelligence inadequate to cope with anything complex or involving mental effort.

considered people simple who had trouble with computers

foolish implies the character of being or seeming unable to use judgment, discretion, or good sense.

foolish stunts

silly suggests failure to act as a rational being especially by ridiculous behavior.

the silly antics of revelers

fatuous implies foolishness, inanity, and disregard of reality.

fatuous conspiracy theories

asinine suggests utter and contemptible failure to use normal rationality or perception.

an asinine plot

Examples of foolish in a Sentence

He was wearing a foolish grin.

She's been taking foolish risks.

Those flashy clothes make her look foolish.

She must feel foolish wearing those flashy clothes.

I never thought you'd be foolish enough to believe him.

Recent Examples on the Web

Borrowing to pay operating costs is foolish, and delays and deferrals in this budget bill are serving up false expectations. —Lindsey Holden, Sacramento Bee, 11 Apr. 2024

The Trump movement has cleverly tapped into this psychology, not just by ridiculing the mainstream media as the purveyor of lies to the foolish masses, but also by promoting markers of special identity, such as symbolic hats, QAnon T-shirts, and even secret hand symbols. —Brian Klaas, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024

Where money is involved, anyone still foolish enough to crawl into bed with him should be prepared for the experience to end in tears. —Michelle Cottle, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024

Her and Hot Pink as cash grabs that a foolish pop audience fell for. —Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 29 Mar. 2024

Big-spending system-beaters take great delight in moving, say, $100,000 of their annual expenses to a new card, not carrying a balance, earning $3,000 in cash back each year and declaring themselves victors over foolish companies. —Ron Lieber, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024

Parents worried about their kids saying or doing something foolish that, if captured and circulated via smartphone, would haunt them for the rest of their lives. —Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024

The album radiated what is, to me, one of the best feelings: the foolish invincibility of being newly in love. —Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2024

In the third entry of The Equalizer saga, Denzel Washington's Robert McCall finds solace in the simplicity of sipping tea along the Amalfi Coast...and beating the living hell out of those foolish enough to cross his path. —Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 17 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

see fool entry 1

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing foolish

• pound-foolish
• penny-wise and/but pound-foolish

Kids Definition

foolish

adjective

fool·​ish ˈfü-lish 

: lacking in good sense or judgment : silly

foolishly adverb

foolishness noun