as in insanities
a foolish act or idea
the American purchase of Alaska was originally considered a grand folly
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Recent Examples of follies
According to Sosnick, investors today may be too focused on companies’ rosy short-term guidance and assuming the good times will last — one of the many follies of those who got burned in 2000.
—
Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 13 May 2026
This might seem like an overreaction, but Gator fans have had to endure these subtle shots all offseason, culminating in the brutal USA Today fluff piece defending Napier's follies in Gainesville.
—Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 May 2026
Fanciful Hapsburg follies have been restored and repurposed.
—Joshua Levine, Travel + Leisure, 7 Apr. 2026
The structures are called follies and were completely designed and built by students from start to finish.
—Brady Halbleib, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2026
Malinin got a bit of redemption for his follies at the Olympics with a third-straight men's individual world title in Prague, and then finally had some fun after weeks of drama following his every move.
—Tyler Erzberger, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2026
Mostly gone are the staff’s personal foibles and follies, but vanished, too, is the post-COVID-19 despair that hung over the inaugural episodes like an aerosol haze.
—Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 13 Mar. 2026
Netflix's Bridgerton is a Regency-era series about the romantic follies of the noble Bridgerton family.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Feb. 2026
Without these changes, Californians are probably headed for more fiscal follies in the years ahead.
—Lanhee J. Chen, Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2026
Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 13 May 2026
This might seem like an overreaction, but Gator fans have had to endure these subtle shots all offseason, culminating in the brutal USA Today fluff piece defending Napier's follies in Gainesville.
—Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 May 2026
Fanciful Hapsburg follies have been restored and repurposed.
—Joshua Levine, Travel + Leisure, 7 Apr. 2026
The structures are called follies and were completely designed and built by students from start to finish.
—Brady Halbleib, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2026
Malinin got a bit of redemption for his follies at the Olympics with a third-straight men's individual world title in Prague, and then finally had some fun after weeks of drama following his every move.
—Tyler Erzberger, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2026
Mostly gone are the staff’s personal foibles and follies, but vanished, too, is the post-COVID-19 despair that hung over the inaugural episodes like an aerosol haze.
—Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 13 Mar. 2026
Netflix's Bridgerton is a Regency-era series about the romantic follies of the noble Bridgerton family.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Feb. 2026
Without these changes, Californians are probably headed for more fiscal follies in the years ahead.
—Lanhee J. Chen, Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for follies
Noun
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Working with Chhaya clients who were facing foreclosure, Mamdani got an intimate look at the little insanities of the city’s housing crisis.—
Eric Lach,
New Yorker,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Despite the show’s absurdities, Euphoria dominated the cultural conversation and made stars of its main cast.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
2 June 2026
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There’s unintentional comedy in the earnest impersonations that Assayas’s movie relies on, and it would have been improved by a similarly overt embrace of its absurdities.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
13 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Follies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/follies. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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