1
as in reckless
foolishly adventurous or bold
hikers who were foolhardy enough to remain on the summit during a thunderstorm
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2
as in daring
having or showing a lack of concern for the consequences of one's actions
it's foolhardy to go hiking during late fall without warm clothes
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Recent Examples of foolhardy
Actions that seemed foolhardy when Rue was younger now come off as merely chancy, with Zendaya imparting enough hard-knock experience to pull off bigger swings.
—
Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Apr. 2026
To simply try to cram additional housing into areas already strained with overdevelopment is irresponsible and foolhardy.
—Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 11 Mar. 2026
Obsessing over Cabrera’s fastball is foolhardy.
—Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Though he not-so-subtly scapegoated players, Quinton Byfield the foremost among them, Hiller’s own foolhardy challenge was the initial turning point toward a collapse that saw the Kings downgrade a 2-0 series lead into a 4-2 series loss.
—Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 1 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for foolhardy
Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Apr. 2026
To simply try to cram additional housing into areas already strained with overdevelopment is irresponsible and foolhardy.
—Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 11 Mar. 2026
Obsessing over Cabrera’s fastball is foolhardy.
—Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Though he not-so-subtly scapegoated players, Quinton Byfield the foremost among them, Hiller’s own foolhardy challenge was the initial turning point toward a collapse that saw the Kings downgrade a 2-0 series lead into a 4-2 series loss.
—Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 1 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for foolhardy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foolhardy
Adjective
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Hal had taken risks Kate thought were reckless.—
Debora Cahn,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
-
Many savings and loans, retail banks created by quirks in banking law decades earlier, made reckless investments when the Fed’s high interest rates in the early 1980s crushed their traditional business.—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
31 May 2026
Adjective
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From the perspective of 2026, Thelma & Louise represents, with its mixture of thematic daring and commercial viability, an alchemy our mainstream movie industry seems to have since largely forgotten.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
27 May 2026
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Space pirate Hondo Ohnaka sets up the adventure during the preshow where we are once again needed to fly the Falcon on a daring mission.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
26 May 2026
Adjective
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Perkin described his wife as inventive and courageous in her art.—
Julie Gallant,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 June 2026
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Nearly four decades later, as cuts to HIV prevention and treatment programs threaten to unravel years of progress, Earle’s story remains a testament to the power of courageous action.—
Christina Ray Stanton,
Time,
2 June 2026
Adjective
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As the players linked arms as one by one — five of them were brave enough to take on the enormous pressure of these penalties — in the shadows was the 2-1 defeat by Barcelona in their only other Champions League final twenty years ago.—
Amy Lawrence,
New York Times,
31 May 2026
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Two years later, Simon Porte Jacquemus, the prodigy from Provence, had models brave a shower of gently falling straw in giant hats made of the same material at his spring 2023 show.—
Irene Kim,
Vogue,
30 May 2026
Adjective
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At this time, Moore says, aviation was considered a daredevil sport, and successful pilots, especially in France, became celebrities.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
26 May 2026
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Mira was an amiable baby, a daredevil toddler, and, once Dylan arrived, a menace.—
Anna Wiener,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
Adjective
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Primed for more adventurous snorkeling, the next day Lyra and I embarked on an early morning expedition aboard Fair Wind Cruises to Captain Cook National Monument in Kealakekua Bay.—
Brianna Randall,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2026
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For the more adventurous, the hike up Hurricane Ridge affords magnificent vistas of both the Olympic Mountains and Vancouver Island.—
Dave Parfitt,
USA Today,
30 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Foolhardy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foolhardy. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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