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fool

n. · v. · adj.
US //ˈfuɫ// UK //fˈuːl// fool
  1. 1 unwise person (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    a person who does not have good judgment or who acts in a silly or stupid way.

    a person lacking in judgment or prudence; often used as a mild to moderate insult regarding someone's intelligence or behavior.

    Example

    I felt like a fool when I realized I was wearing two different shoes.

    Example

    He was no fool in business matters, yet he consistently allowed his personal biases to cloud his professional judgment.
  2. 2 historical entertainer (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Archaic Literature

    a person in the past whose job was to tell jokes and entertain a king or queen.

    a professional jester or entertainer at a royal or noble court, historically permitted to speak truths that others could not.

    Example

    The king's fool was the only person allowed to mock the monarch's decisions.

    Example

    In Shakespearean drama, the fool often serves as a source of profound wisdom disguised as nonsensical riddles.
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  1. 3 fruit dessert (n.)
    C1 Advanced British English Cooking

    a cold dessert made of mashed fruit mixed with cream or custard.

    a traditional British dessert consisting of puréed fruit folded into chilled custard or whipped cream.

    Example

    We had a delicious gooseberry fool for dessert after the Sunday roast.

    Example

    The chef prepared a rhubarb fool, balancing the tartness of the fruit with a rich, vanilla-infused double cream.

  2. 4 to trick someone (v.)
    B1 Intermediate

    to trick someone or make them believe something that is not true.

    to deceive or dupe someone, often by means of a clever or playful trick.

    Example

    You can't fool me with that fake spider; I know it's plastic.

    Example

    The sophisticated phishing email managed to fool several employees into revealing their login credentials.
  3. 5 to behave sillily (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    to behave in a silly way or waste time.

    to behave in a playful, frivolous, or idiotic manner; often used with 'around'.

    Example

    Stop fooling around and finish your homework before dinner.

    Example

    The teenagers were caught fooling around near the edge of the pier, oblivious to the safety warnings posted nearby.

    Usage

    Often used as the phrasal verb 'fool around'.
  4. 6 silly or unwise (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    silly, stupid, or not showing good sense.

    characteristic of a fool; lacking good sense or judgment.

    Example

    That was a fool idea to go hiking in the middle of a storm.

    Example

    He wasted his inheritance on some fool scheme to find buried treasure in the desert.
Etymology 1

From Middle English fole (“fool”), from Old French fol (cf. modern French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis. Doublet of fals and follis. Displaced native Old English dwæs.

Etymology 2

From French fouler (“to trample”).

Word family
Idioms5 entries

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