foolish

fool·ish

adjective \ˈfü-lish\

Definition of FOOLISH

1

: lacking in sense, judgment, or discretion

2

a : absurd, ridiculous

b : marked by a loss of composure : nonplussed

3

: insignificant, trifling

— fool·ish·ly adverb

Examples of FOOLISH

1. He was wearing a foolish grin.
2. She's been taking foolish risks.
3. Those flashy clothes make her look foolish.
4. She must feel foolish wearing those flashy clothes.
5. I never thought you'd be foolish enough to believe him.

First Known Use of FOOLISH

13th century

Related to FOOLISH

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 (also kookie), loony (also looney), lunatic, lunkheaded, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, senseless, silly, simpleminded, stupid, tomfool, unwise, wacky (also whacky), weak-minded, witless, zany, out to lunch

Antonyms

judicious, prudent, sagacious, sage, sane, sapient, sensible, sound, wise

Related Words

airheaded, birdbrained, boobish, brain-dead, chowderheaded, chuckleheaded, clueless, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey (also dopy), dorky [slang], dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, feebleminded, gormless [chiefly British], idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), knuckleheaded, lamebrain (or lamebrained), mindless, moronic, oafish, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, simple, slow, slow-witted, soft, softheaded, thoughtless, thick, thickheaded, unintelligent, vacuous, witless; fallacious, illogical, invalid, irrational, nonrational, surd, unreasonable, unreasoning, unsound, weak; farcical, laughable, ludicrous, ridiculous; notional; buffoonish, clownish; ill-advised, unconsidered, unreasoned

Near Antonyms

brainy, bright, clever, intelligent, smart; logical, rational, reasonable, valid; well-advised

See Synonym Discussion at simple

Rhymes with FOOLISH

coolish, ghoulish, mulish