FOOLS Synonyms: 306 Similar and Opposite Words

fools 1 of 2

noun

plural of fool

as in lunatics

a person who lacks good sense or judgment only a fool would attempt to climb that mountain unprepared

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as in clowns

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

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as in suckers

a person with a strong and habitual liking for something I'm a fool for ice cream

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as in maniacs

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

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fools

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of fool

as in tricks

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

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as in jokes

to make jokes an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience

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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 fools

Noun

Some want to live vicariously through them, while others joke about the poor fools who fell for their tactics. — Owen Carry, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026 Pace, skill, a vicious shot, the ability to make opposition defenders look like fools. — James Horncastle, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026 This is an ignoble war making monsters and fools out of its participants, and against the uncontrollable weapons that are dragons, everyone’s resolve is crumbling. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 18 June 2026 One reason this war may linger is because most of the leaders of these countries and militias know that history has its eyes on them, and there will be a moral, political and economic accounting that will be devastating for each one of these fools. — Thomas L. Friedman, Mercury News, 16 June 2026 The American media look here like fools, as does the conspiratorial mirror image imagining a vast secret US operation. — Ben Smith, semafor.com, 15 June 2026 Flecks of mica and pyrite and who knows what, but only fools and greenhorns mistake it for gold. — John Archibald, Southern Living, 11 June 2026 As Rose’s impoverished yet imperious mother Ruth, Parson’s dry deliveries offer great comic ballast to this ship of fools. — Frank Rizzo, Variety, 13 Apr. 2026 Antisemitism is the socialism of fools, right? — Suzanne Schneider, The New York Review of Books, 25 Mar. 2026

Verb

Sebastian Galeano fools the Lake Mary defense by carrying it himself and scampers 40 yards for the touchdown. — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026 Runway, Pika, and a dozen others can produce footage that fools the eye on first watch. — Sandy Carter, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026 What fools these non-OpenAI mortals must be. — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 15 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fools

Noun

Republicans see an opportunity here, portraying progressive and socialist Democrats as lunatics and communists.

— ABC News, ABC News, 9 Aug. 2026
While sane Americans were celebrating the MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, the lunatics in Portland, Oregon were cheering along as two men made out on a baseball field during a 'Heated Rivalry' theme night.

— Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 15 July 2026

Definition of lunatics

Noun

The excessiveness of Ken Russell, Joe Coleman, Tasha Tudor, clowns, migraines, Priscilla Presley, and the Winchester Mystery House.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
Circus of the Damned — An evil ringmaster tries to restore his cursed carnival with a new cast of clowns.

— Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of clowns

Noun

Some kinds of trees, such as honey locusts, hackberries, lindens and maples, are naturally more inclined to produce suckers.

— Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2026
The ornamental characteristics of suckers that develop from roots are inferior to the upper portion of the tree.

— Molly Burford, Southern Living, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of suckers

Noun

David extended a hand toward me (imaginary attacks by slow, handshake-wielding maniacs are a martial arts class staple).

— Johanna Stein, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026
The odd thing about this choice is that, although the DSA’s platform is indeed chock-full of maniacal proposals, on this particular idea, the maniacs have a point.

— Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026

Definition of maniacs

Verb

Short crown layers build lift and help create volume, which tricks the eye into seeing more density overall, and face-framing pieces create visual fullness around the face.

— Marci Robin, Allure, 11 Aug. 2026
Lord Ormund’s Gambit Lord Ormund has many, many tricks up his green sleeves.

— Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of tricks

Noun

The Central Valley is known as America’s salad bowl, for its vast production fruits, vegetables and nuts that stock refrigerators and kitchen tables across America.

— ABC News, ABC News, 5 Sep. 2026
Many of California’s Asian American leaders have come through that boot camp, which provides training on the nuts-and-bolts of organizing, media relations, and messaging.

— Gene Maddaus, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of nuts

Noun

The jokers Toth and Jackson, bless them, keep things endearing and funny.

— Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2026
At some point, all these jokers need to sit down and stop auditioning for attention long enough to actually do the jobs they were elected or appointed to do.

— Rachel Marsden, Hartford Courant, 15 Aug. 2026