1
as in lunatic
a person who lacks good sense or judgment
only a fool would attempt to climb that mountain unprepared
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in clown
a person formerly kept in a royal or noble household to amuse with jests and pranks
a king's fool could get away with saying things that others in the palace couldn't
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in sucker
a person with a strong and habitual liking for something
I'm a fool for ice cream
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in foolish
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
he's always got some fool plan or other
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to deceive
to cause to believe what is untrue
I fooled him into thinking that we were driving to the store, not to his surprise birthday party
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to joke
to make jokes
an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fool
Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2026
Don’t let the recent rain fool you.
—Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 31 Mar. 2026
Eno Sarris, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2026
But Swanson isn’t ready to endorse reverse framing, a conceptual strategy in which catchers could try to make strikes look like balls in an effort to fool opposing hitters into wasting a challenge.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fool
Noun
Any one of 162 games is less a sample size than a glance, and fool’s gold is ever present.
—Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2026
Don’t let the recent rain fool you.
—Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 31 Mar. 2026
Verb
That’s complicated by the fact that batters take bigger swings on pitches down the pipe than on pitches they are fooled on.
—Eno Sarris, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2026
But Swanson isn’t ready to endorse reverse framing, a conceptual strategy in which catchers could try to make strikes look like balls in an effort to fool opposing hitters into wasting a challenge.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fool
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fool
Noun
-
Friends with a sudden devotion to nature begin making plans to convene in parks; TurboTax becomes your closest email companion; your risk of injury at the hands of a lunatic on a City Bike, haunted by the memory of a New Year’s resolution to exercise, may increase.—
Elly Leavitt,
Vogue,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wasn’t far behind, saying the war is being waged against religious lunatics.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Miller’s traveling salesman is here something of a sad clown running out of gas.—
Naveen Kumar,
Variety,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Tasked to play the foil to McKellen’s clown, Coel comes off stiff.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But to think that suckers get an even break when insiders have information that assures them of winning is folly.—
William Mersey,
New York Daily News,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Invasive vines like Virginia creeper, English ivy, and buckthorn can strangle trees, for example, and some aggressive trees may spread via underground suckers and roots.—
Peg Aloi,
The Spruce,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Do me a favor, call up that agent that was foolish enough to shoehorn you into this business and this show and tell him to lower the ticket prices.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Arsenal would be foolish to write off a player in this kind of form, with this kind of confidence, and gripped by the kind of never-say-die attitude that has characterised a dramatic career.—
Thom Harris,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Memento has withstood the test of time, thanks to memorable performances, intricately layered storytelling, and what the film ultimately reveals about our all-too-human willingness to deceive ourselves in order to escape unpleasant truths.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Through the window, the lack of visible trees suggested a barren landscape, but looks are deceiving.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Denver’s only Tar Heel, Cam Johnson, joked that he had already been asked for his opinion dozens of times when the topic came up with reporters.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Webster joked that having Bumila as a teammate made his life easier on the court.—
Matt Schooley,
CBS News,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The spill hit 1,300 miles of coastline, leading to the deaths of about 900 bald eagles, 300 seals, 1,000 harlequin ducks, 2,800 sea otters and 250,000 seabirds, according to the conservation group Oceana.—
Arizona Republic,
AZCentral.com,
24 Mar. 2026
-
If the Brits are anything to go by, feather boas and harlequin jumpsuits are out, and French-girl flats are in.—
Alice Newbold,
Vogue,
28 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
That’s probably why class-crossed lovers make such fertile ground for fiction—look at Heathcliff and Cathy, or poor Scudder and Maurice.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Options for 2026 include food cruises that travel through Burgundy and Provence and a 15-day wine lovers cruise on the Rhine and Seine Rivers.—
Beth Luberecki,
USA Today,
11 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fool.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fool. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
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