1
as in tricked
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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in joked
to make jokes
an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 fooled
Super blue moons can also occur, but don’t be fooled by the name.
—
Callum Sutherland, Time, 6 Oct. 2025
Do not be fooled by Celine’s chic bob; the woman is an agent of chaos.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2025
Prosecutors told the court the scheme had raised at least $650 million and called it a classic Ponzi structure that fooled even Horwitz’s closest friends.
—Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 30 Sep. 2025
You could get lost in that headline, fooled into thinking the Royals are content with where this offense stands.
—Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2025
In order to not be fooled by narcissistic kindness, Sarkis encourages people to view one-off good deeds in the context of someone's overall behavior.
—Charles Trepany, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025
Don’t be fooled, there is intention.
—Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2025
The episode was about a fake Lord trying to check in to a seedy seaside hotel, and the snobbish Cleese character who runs the place gets fooled by him.
—Jonathan Margolis, Air Mail, 20 Sep. 2025
And kudos to [visual effects supervisor] Rob Legato and team for coming up with something that fooled Buzz Aldrin.
—Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025
Callum Sutherland, Time, 6 Oct. 2025
Do not be fooled by Celine’s chic bob; the woman is an agent of chaos.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2025
Prosecutors told the court the scheme had raised at least $650 million and called it a classic Ponzi structure that fooled even Horwitz’s closest friends.
—Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 30 Sep. 2025
You could get lost in that headline, fooled into thinking the Royals are content with where this offense stands.
—Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2025
In order to not be fooled by narcissistic kindness, Sarkis encourages people to view one-off good deeds in the context of someone's overall behavior.
—Charles Trepany, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025
Don’t be fooled, there is intention.
—Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2025
The episode was about a fake Lord trying to check in to a seedy seaside hotel, and the snobbish Cleese character who runs the place gets fooled by him.
—Jonathan Margolis, Air Mail, 20 Sep. 2025
And kudos to [visual effects supervisor] Rob Legato and team for coming up with something that fooled Buzz Aldrin.
—Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fooled
Verb
-
He will not be coaxed, tricked, or trapped.—
Heather Bushman,
IndyStar,
3 Oct. 2025
-
The consumer is led to believe there is a fraudulent activity involving their account — and they're tricked with working with a scammer to fix a fake problem.—
Susan Tompor,
Freep.com,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Munich airport was shut down this morning due to unauthorized drones in its airspace, and Putin joked about it in Sochi.—
Geoff Colvin,
Fortune,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Amber joked that the timing was unexpected.—
Jane LaCroix,
PEOPLE,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
According to the Justice Department, Sanberg deceived investors and lenders.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
30 Sep. 2025
-
The lawsuit, filed by the FTC in June 2023 under the Biden administration, claimed that Amazon deceived tens of millions of customers into signing up for its Prime subscription program and sabotaged their attempts to cancel it.—
Annie Palmer,
CNBC,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fooled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fooled. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share