fool

1 a person who lacks good sense or judgment only a fool would attempt to climb that mountain unprepared Synonyms of fool berk [British], booby, charlie (also charley) [British], 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 Words Related to fool daredevil; madman, madwoman; airhead, birdbrain, blockhead, cretin, dodo, dolt, donkey, dope, dork [slang], dumbbell, dummy, dunce, fathead, gander, goon, half-wit, idiot, ignoramus, imbecile, know-nothing, knucklehead, moron, numskull (or numbskull), pinhead, schlub (also shlub) [slang], schlump [slang], schnook [slang], stock; featherbrain, scatterbrain; butt, dupe, laughingstock, mockery, monkey; chump, loser, schlemiel (also shlemiel); character, codger, crackbrain, crackpot, crank, kook, oddball, screwball, weirdo Near Antonyms of fool sage, thinker; brain, genius

2 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 of fool jester, motley Words Related to fool buffoon, clown, comedian, comedienne, comic, cutup, droll, harlequin, joker, jokester, madcap, merry-andrew, vice, wag, zany; mime, mummer

3 a person with a strong and habitual liking for something I'm a fool for ice cream—virtually any flavor Synonyms of fool addict, aficionado (also afficionado), buff, bug, devotee, enthusiast, fanatic, fancier, fiend, fan, freak, habitué (also habitue), head, hound, junkie (also junky), lover, maniac, maven (also mavin), nut, suckerWords Related to fool groupie; admirer, amateur, collector, connoisseur, dilettante; authority, expert; adherent, convert, cultist, disciple, follower, hanger-on, votary; advocate, apostle, backer, champion, evangelist, exponent, friend, patron, promoter, proponent, supporter; partisan (also partizan), zealot; booster, rooter, well-wisher; faddistNear Antonyms of fool nonadmirer; belittler, carper, critic, detractorAntonyms of fool nonfan

4 a person judged to be legally or medically insane he got out of serving in the army by successfully pretending to be a fool Synonyms of fool bug, crackbrain, crazy, lunatic, fruitcake, head case, loon, loony, maniac, nut, nutcase, nutter [British slang], psycho, psychopath, sickie, sicko, wacko (also whacko)Words Related to fool madman, madwoman; abnormal, deviant; manic-depressive, monomaniac, mythomaniac, neurotic, obsessive, obsessive-compulsive, paranoid, psychoneurotic, psychotic, schizo, schizoid, schizophrene, schizophrenic, sociopath; character, codger, crack, crackpot, crank, eccentric, fantastic (also fantastical), flake, kook, oddball, oddity, original, quiz, screwball, tyke (also tike) [chiefly British], weirdo, zany; case, patient

showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment he's always got some fool plan or other Synonyms of fool absurd, asinine, balmy, brainless, bubbleheaded, cockeyed, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dotty, fatuous, featherheaded, foolish, 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, zanyWords Related to fool 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, unreasonedNear Antonyms of fool brainy, bright, clever, intelligent, smart; logical, rational, reasonable, valid; well-advisedAntonyms of fool judicious, prudent, sagacious, sage, sane, sapient, sensible, sound, wise

1 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 of fool bamboozle, beguile, bluff, buffalo, burn, catch, con, cozen, delude, dupe, fake out, deceive, gaff, gammon, gull, have, have on [chiefly British], hoax, hoodwink, hornswoggle, humbug, juggle, misguide, misinform, mislead, snooker, snow, spoof, string along, sucker, suck in, take in, trickWords Related to fool kid, put on, tease; bleed, cheat, chisel, defraud, diddle, euchre, flam, fleece, gyp, hustle, mulct, rook, shortchange, skin, squeeze, stick, sting, swindleNear Antonyms of fool debunk, expose, reveal, show up, uncloak, uncover, unmask; disclose, divulge, tell, unveil; disabuse, disenchant, disillusionAntonyms of fool undeceive

2 to make jokes an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience Synonyms of fool banter, chaff, joke, fun, gag, jape, jest, jive, jolly, josh, kid, quip, wisecrack, yuk (or yuck) [slang]Words Related to fool gibe (or jibe), haze, jeer, mock, rag, rally, razz, rib, ridicule, tease; caricature, lampoon, parody, satirize; amuse, divert, entertain