fool 1 of 3

Definition of foolnext
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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

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fool

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adjective

fool

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verb

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fool
Noun
Russell plays the fool wonderfully as Fairchild's suffering boyfriend, reacting to the increasingly bizarre events as most of us would, with incredulity and swearing, and there are some brilliant sight gags sprinkled throughout the film. Ian Stokes, Space.com, 12 June 2026 There is broad disagreement about whether SpaceX is fool’s gold with its sky-high valuation, or represents a valuable opportunity to finally own a piece of a dominant space company that could some day command the business of data centers in orbit. Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 12 June 2026
Verb
Don’t be fooled by its plentiful packing space; the Cuyana style is still (somehow) compact and easy to tuck under your seat or in an overhead compartment. Kyra Surgent, InStyle, 10 June 2026 If rankings produced by the very company at the top of the list seem unlikely to fool anyone, that’s because humans probably aren’t the target audience. Will Oremus, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for fool
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fool
Noun
  • The lunatics are running the asylum.
    Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 14 June 2026
  • Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Michael Cera, Will Arnett and other lunatics round out the cast.
    Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 8 June 2026
Noun
  • Hints at the canonical Big Daddies of existential clown float through the air — Beckett would recognize this pair, and so would Jean Genet.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 June 2026
  • In showcasing the comedy and entertainment skills of drag queens, rather than the lip-syncing talents most people might be familiar with, the movie in effect asks critics of drag what exactly is so scary about a bunch of glamorous clowns.
    David Mack, CNN Money, 10 June 2026
Noun
  • This is in addition to the species of rough fish, like carp and suckers, that have long been fair game for spearfishermen there.
    Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 10 Dec. 2025
  • The staff had piled a toy train high with Modjeskas and stuffed a sleigh with chocolate suckers and egg nog taffy.
    Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal, 9 Dec. 2025
Adjective
  • If the target was foolish enough to reuse passwords, credential thefts like these could enable the compromise of more important accounts.
    Rob Pegoraro, PC Magazine, 3 June 2026
  • High energy, being foolish with the other guys.
    Jack Lang, New York Times, 3 June 2026
Verb
  • Subscriptions started at $88 per week and included almost 300 templates for fake websites designed to deceive customers, a dashboard that allowed criminals to monitor their campaigns, a discussion forum where users could find collaborators and receive support, and keylogging capabilities.
    Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 13 June 2026
  • The problem is, most people feel deceived when the person in front of them doesn't match the profile.
    Charles Trepany, USA Today, 9 June 2026
Verb
  • When Lois Neville and Ellen Boudreau-Den Herder became co-executive directors of the Hollywood Fringe Festival in early 2020, their first job, Neville likes to joke, was to cancel it.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2026
  • In the past, the vice president has joked about his children's egg consumption.
    Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 10 June 2026
Noun
  • This drunk moron — quite different from his character in the novel — bears a ton of blame.
    Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 13 Feb. 2026
  • That they would be regarded as slothful morons who aren't worth the price of a ticket of admission.
    Jim Cramer, CNBC, 2 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • Man Ray painted a harlequin with a candlelit lantern for a head in 1939, taking direct inspiration from Schiaparelli’s Harlequin coat from her Modern Comedy collection, launched in October 1938.
    Eliza Goodpasture, ARTnews.com, 15 Apr. 2026
  • 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

Cite this Entry

“Fool.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fool. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.

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