plural fools
1
: a person lacking in judgment or prudence
Only a fool would ride a motorcycle without wearing a helmet.
2
a
: a retainer (see retainer entry 1 sense 1) formerly kept in great households to provide casual entertainment and commonly dressed in motley with cap, bells, and bauble
3
a
: a person lacking in common powers of understanding or reason
b
: one with a marked propensity or fondness for something
a dancing fool
a fool for candy
4
: a cold dessert of pureed fruit mixed with whipped cream or custard
fooled; fooling; fools
1
a
: to behave foolishly
told the children to stop their fooling
see also fool around
b
: to meddle, tamper, or experiment especially thoughtlessly or ignorantly
Don't fool with that drill.
see also fool around with
2
a
: to play or improvise a comic role
b
: to speak in jest : joke
I was only fooling
3
: to contend or fight without serious intent or with less than full strength : toy
a dangerous man to fool with
Synonyms
Noun
- berk [British]
- booby
- charlie [British]
- charley
- cuckoo
- ding-a-ling
- dingbat
- ding-dong
- dipstick
- doofus [slang]
- featherhead
- git [British]
- goose
- half-wit
- jackass
- lunatic
- mooncalf
- nincompoop
- ninny
- ninnyhammer
- nit [chiefly British]
- nitwit
- nut
- nutcase
- simp
- simpleton
- turkey
- yo-yo
Adjective
- absurd
- asinine
- balmy
- brainless
- bubbleheaded
- cockeyed
- crackpot
- crazy
- cuckoo
- daffy
- daft
- dippy
- dotty
- fatuous
- featherheaded
- foolish
- half-baked
- half-witted
- harebrained
- 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
Verb
Examples of fool in a Sentence
Noun
those fools who ride motorcycles without wearing helmets
Only a fool would ask such a silly question.
You'd be a fool to believe what he tells you.
You're making yourself look like a fool.
Adjective
The dog was barking its fool head off.
Some fool driver kept trying to pass me!
Verb
When she first told us that she was getting married, we thought she was fooling.
His disguise didn't fool anybody.
He really had me fooled.
Stop fooling yourself—she doesn't really love you.
Recent Examples on the Web
Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 11 Apr. 2024
Stock market timing is a fool’s errand, but ensuring your portfolio matches your risk tolerance, and some caution on the margins makes sense here.
—Bill Stone, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
Wise statesmen and ambitious fools have tried to find a pathway out of this violence.
—Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2024
Louder than all this is the protective cry from her fans, who stand at the ready to make fools of her doubters.
—Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
Through fantastical moments of magical realism nestled into perfect encapsulations of ’hood life, viewers got a story of two fools trying to figure out their place in the world.
—Alex Zaragoza, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2024
Trying to diagnose a season beforehand is really a fool’s errand because….
—Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024
Even the most fervent Lakers fan realizes beating the Thunder on the second night of back-to-back games is fool’s gold.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 9% of American adults consume what is needed, which sets the stage perfectly for one of our fool’s gold shortcuts.
—Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 7 Mar. 2024
Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 18 Apr. 2024
Just don’t be fooled into thinking the lock will open for anyone else.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024
But don't be fooled by its attractive and vibrant colors — stinknet is detrimental to new environments.
—Shelby Slade, The Arizona Republic, 17 Apr. 2024
After breaching government networks through SolarWinds software, Moscow’s operatives fooled Microsoft’s cloud platform into granting them expansive access.
—Eric Geller, WIRED, 15 Apr. 2024
That fact fools many borrowers, according to a survey by LERETA, which provides tax and flood data to financial service companies.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2024
Don’t be fooled by the newbies’ inability to remember her name: Wiig never strays too far from Studio 8H.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 3 Apr. 2024
Please call your assemblymember and state senator and tell them not to be fooled by the CPUC’s proposal.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2024
Fans of the musician were nearly fooled in the comments section.
—Ilana Kaplan, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024
Noun
Don't let the sometimes-long line to get in fool you!
—Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 11 Apr. 2024
Stock market timing is a fool’s errand, but ensuring your portfolio matches your risk tolerance, and some caution on the margins makes sense here.
—Bill Stone, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
Wise statesmen and ambitious fools have tried to find a pathway out of this violence.
—Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2024
Louder than all this is the protective cry from her fans, who stand at the ready to make fools of her doubters.
—Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
Through fantastical moments of magical realism nestled into perfect encapsulations of ’hood life, viewers got a story of two fools trying to figure out their place in the world.
—Alex Zaragoza, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2024
Trying to diagnose a season beforehand is really a fool’s errand because….
—Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024
Even the most fervent Lakers fan realizes beating the Thunder on the second night of back-to-back games is fool’s gold.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 9% of American adults consume what is needed, which sets the stage perfectly for one of our fool’s gold shortcuts.
—Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 7 Mar. 2024
Verb
Pike Fishing Lure Tips Put Out the Vibe There are dozens of lure styles that fool pike, but when in doubt, tie on a lure with a spinning blade.
—Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 18 Apr. 2024
Just don’t be fooled into thinking the lock will open for anyone else.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024
But don't be fooled by its attractive and vibrant colors — stinknet is detrimental to new environments.
—Shelby Slade, The Arizona Republic, 17 Apr. 2024
After breaching government networks through SolarWinds software, Moscow’s operatives fooled Microsoft’s cloud platform into granting them expansive access.
—Eric Geller, WIRED, 15 Apr. 2024
That fact fools many borrowers, according to a survey by LERETA, which provides tax and flood data to financial service companies.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2024
Don’t be fooled by the newbies’ inability to remember her name: Wiig never strays too far from Studio 8H.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 3 Apr. 2024
Please call your assemblymember and state senator and tell them not to be fooled by the CPUC’s proposal.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2024
Fans of the musician were nearly fooled in the comments section.
—Ilana Kaplan, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fool.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fool
Cite this Entry
“Fool.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fool. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fool
1 of 2 noun1
: a person who lacks good sense or judgment
2
: a person formerly kept in a noble or royal household to amuse with jests and pranks
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