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
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in psychopath
a person having or showing a severely disordered or abnormal state of mind
he got out of serving in the army by successfully pretending to be a fool
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fool
Maya Silver, Outside Online, 2 May 2025
Don't let the small, lightweight design fool you – this portable Bluetooth speaker produces a big and loud sound with an impressive 131-foot wireless range.
—Cierra Cowan, PC Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2025
Often these scams will impersonate a retailer or shipping company to fool the victim.
—James Peckham, PC Magazine, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fool
Noun
And don’t let a crowded trailhead fool you—hike for more than 15 minutes and trail traffic usually thins if not disappears.
—Maya Silver, Outside Online, 2 May 2025
Don't let the small, lightweight design fool you – this portable Bluetooth speaker produces a big and loud sound with an impressive 131-foot wireless range.
—Cierra Cowan, PC Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
Verb
And the pregnancy is essential to both versions of The Wedding Banquet, films that turn out to be less about fooling conservative relatives and more about the creation of a new kind of family.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2025
Often these scams will impersonate a retailer or shipping company to fool the victim.
—James Peckham, PC Magazine, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fool
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fool
Noun
-
In the ‘30s and ‘40s, there were all these clowns trying to sell things, and then there was Krinkles the Clown trying to sell cereal [in the ‘50s].—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
8 May 2025
-
Matthew Davies, 41, was taken into custody on suspicion of assaulting a man with a glass bottle while dressed up as a clown on Oct. 31, 2018, according to a news release issued by the department.—
Vincent Moleski,
Sacbee.com,
8 May 2025
Noun
-
The Vulcan system consists of a conventional robotic arm with a custom spatula-like appendage for poking into a shelf and a sucker for grabbing items to pull them out.—
Will Knight,
Wired News,
7 May 2025
-
At a time when the world seems increasingly divided into winners and losers, exploiters and suckers, Henry Johnson speaks with sardonic eloquence to our current moment in American life.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
But the Liberals are an electoral machine—something of a rarity on the center-left—that would be foolish to bet against.—
Daniel Block,
The Atlantic,
29 Apr. 2025
-
His cigars weren’t as nasty as his habit of chasing bad money with worse—high living and foolish investments, with second-rate writing meant to plug the gap.—
Lauren Michele Jackson,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
That hasn’t stopped Liverpool using him to distract and deceive opponents when free kicks are won, however.—
Gregg Evans,
New York Times,
8 May 2025
-
She was also found guilty of deceiving other officials about the man's identity.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 May 2025
Verb
-
Some users joked about how much time was spent deliberating over the name change.—
Jonathan Limehouse,
USA Today,
14 May 2025
-
Porter Township School Corporation Superintendant Stacey Schmidt joked that despite Union Township Bearcats being their arch-rivals, her community did not support a data center being thrust upon them.—
Shelley Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2025
Noun
-
Learn more about management options and which food plants are most susceptible to this insect in our harlequin bug on vegetables web page.—
Miri Talabac,
Baltimore Sun,
16 Apr. 2025
-
Once infused with the diabolical spirit, the guide is transformed into a buffoon, complete with a harlequin outfit—a mad joker and a dancing fool who does a little jig to the sound of a jazz trio.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
11 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
About 75 members of the group will perform in the coming week at three churches in Broward County before taking a summer break and then inviting fellow music lovers to audition in August.—
Lois K. Solomon,
Sun Sentinel,
13 May 2025
-
In just a few days, Morgan Wallen's inaugural Sand in My Boots festival will be underway on the beaches of the Gulf Shores, Alabama, bringing country music lovers together for fun in the sun.—
Daniela Avila,
People.com,
12 May 2025
Noun
-
In the official trailer for the new season of Criminal Minds: Evolution, there’s more talk about serial killers, sadistic psychopaths, and Elias Voit — the notorious Sicarius Killer played by the enthusiastic Zach Gilford.—
Lynette Rice,
Deadline,
24 Apr. 2025
-
The subsequent two hours unfold in the broadest of brush strokes as the heroic Anakin devolves into a yellow-eyed, child-slaughtering psychopath in a preposterously short amount of time.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
24 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fool.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fool. Accessed 18 May. 2025.
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