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
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
One: desperation can make fools of NFL football executives.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2024
The character’s journey is from Shakespearean fool to Shakespearean king.
—Adrienne Miller, Vogue, 5 Mar. 2024
Ilana Kaplan, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024
Deepfake detection services have been fooled into declaring images of kissing robots and giant Neanderthals to be real photographs, raising concerns that such tools could further damage society’s trust in facts and evidence.
—Tiffany Hsu, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2024
Bettors weren’t fooled by the colt’s dull effort in the Holy Bull and sent him off Saturday as the even-money favorite.
—Clark Spencer, Miami Herald, 30 Mar. 2024
Tweaking the system date and time didn't fool the scheduler.
—PCMAG, 26 Mar. 2024
Sloan Duvall, 21, who chairs Students for Stein, the official statewide student campaign for the Democratic candidate, said that won't fool voters this fall.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2024
Don’t be fooled by its aristocratic interiors—rates start at around $180 per night—and be sure to make reservations at the hotel’s excellent Asturian restaurant, whose dishes spotlight local ingredients like sea urchin caviar and smoked Los Caserinos cheese.
—Siobhan Reid, Vogue, 27 Mar. 2024
The Husky Jerk has that same life-like shape that’s been fooling fish ever since.
—David A. Rose, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2024
Don’t be fooled into thinking that the new film starring Mark Wahlberg is an adventure movie.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2024
Noun
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
One: desperation can make fools of NFL football executives.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2024
The character’s journey is from Shakespearean fool to Shakespearean king.
—Adrienne Miller, Vogue, 5 Mar. 2024
Verb
Fans of the musician were nearly fooled in the comments section.
—Ilana Kaplan, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024
Deepfake detection services have been fooled into declaring images of kissing robots and giant Neanderthals to be real photographs, raising concerns that such tools could further damage society’s trust in facts and evidence.
—Tiffany Hsu, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2024
Bettors weren’t fooled by the colt’s dull effort in the Holy Bull and sent him off Saturday as the even-money favorite.
—Clark Spencer, Miami Herald, 30 Mar. 2024
Tweaking the system date and time didn't fool the scheduler.
—PCMAG, 26 Mar. 2024
Sloan Duvall, 21, who chairs Students for Stein, the official statewide student campaign for the Democratic candidate, said that won't fool voters this fall.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2024
Don’t be fooled by its aristocratic interiors—rates start at around $180 per night—and be sure to make reservations at the hotel’s excellent Asturian restaurant, whose dishes spotlight local ingredients like sea urchin caviar and smoked Los Caserinos cheese.
—Siobhan Reid, Vogue, 27 Mar. 2024
The Husky Jerk has that same life-like shape that’s been fooling fish ever since.
—David A. Rose, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2024
Don’t be fooled into thinking that the new film starring Mark Wahlberg is an adventure movie.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 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 16 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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