Fool

/fuːl/ · noun

Meaning

(derogatory) A person with poor judgment or little intelligence..

Definitions by Sense

1. (derogatory) A person with poor judgment or little intelligence.
2. (historical) A jester; a person whose role was to entertain a sovereign and the court (or lower personages).
3. (literature) A stock character typified by unintelligence, naïveté or lucklessness, usually as a form of comic relief; often used as a source of insight or pathos for the audience, as such characters are generally less bound by social expectations.
4. Someone who has been made a fool of or tricked; dupe.
5. (informal) Someone who derives pleasure from something specified.
6. (slang, chiefly African-American Vernacular, Hispanic) An informal greeting akin to buddy, dude, or man.
7. (tarot, often capitalized Fool) A particular card in a tarot deck, representing a jester.
8. (derogatory, slang) A tankie.

Example Sentences

You were a fool to cross that busy road without looking.

The village fool threw his own shoes down the well.

Erasmus, [...] saide wiselie that experience is the common scholehouse of foles, and ill men: Men of witte and honestie, be otherwise instructed.

No man is always a fool, every man is sometimes.

'If I coloured at all, Mr Edward,' said Joe, 'which I didn't know I did, it was to think I should have been such a fool as ever to have any hope of her. She’s as far out of my reach as—as Heaven is.'

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken ⁠Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools

You're just a poor misguided fool Who thinks they know what I should do A line for me and a line for you I lose my right to a point of view.

And every time I'm meant to be acting sensible You drift into my head And turn me into a crumbling fool.

Synonyms for fool

Antonyms for fool

Related Words

Word Forms

• fools
• fooling
• fooled
• fooler
• more fool
• foolest
• most fool

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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