Library / English Dictionary

FOOL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of

Synonyms:

chump; fall guy; fool; gull; mark; mug; patsy; soft touch; sucker

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("fool" is a kind of...):

dupe; victim (a person who is tricked or swindled)

Derivation:

fool (fool or hoax)

fool (make a fool or dupe of)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who lacks good judgment

Synonyms:

fool; muggins; sap; saphead; tomfool

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("fool" is a kind of...):

simple; simpleton (a person lacking intelligence or common sense)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fool"):

ass (a pompous fool)

buffoon; clown (a rude or vulgar fool)

flibbertigibbet; foolish woman (a female fool)

fucker (a stupid despised man)

bozo; cuckoo; fathead; goof; goofball; goose; jackass; twat; zany (a man who is a stupid incompetent fool)

meshuggeneh; meshuggener ((Yiddish) a crazy fool)

morosoph (a learned fool)

putz ((Yiddish) a fool; an idiot)

wally (a silly and inept person; someone who is regarded as stupid)

Derivation:

fool (fool or hoax)

fool (make a fool or dupe of)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A professional clown employed to entertain a king or nobleman in the Middle Ages

Synonyms:

fool; jester; motley fool

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("fool" is a kind of...):

buffoon; clown; goof; goofball; merry andrew (a person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior)

Derivation:

fool (indulge in horseplay)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Indulge in horseplay

Example:

The bored children were fooling about

Synonyms:

arse around; fool; fool around; horse around

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "fool" is one way to...):

jest; joke (tell a joke; speak humorously)

play (be at play; be engaged in playful activity; amuse oneself in a way characteristic of children)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fool (a professional clown employed to entertain a king or nobleman in the Middle Ages)

foolery (foolish or senseless behavior)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fool or hoax

Example:

You can't fool me!

Synonyms:

befool; cod; dupe; fool; gull; put on; put one across; put one over; slang; take in

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "fool" is one way to...):

betray; deceive; lead astray (cause someone to believe an untruth)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fool"):

kid; pull the leg of (tell false information to for fun)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

fool (a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of)

fool (a person who lacks good judgment)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Spend frivolously and unwisely

Example:

Fritter away one's inheritance

Synonyms:

dissipate; fool; fool away; fritter; fritter away; frivol away; shoot

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "fool" is one way to...):

consume; squander; ware; waste (spend extravagantly)

"Fool" entails doing...:

consume; deplete; eat; eat up; exhaust; run through; use up; wipe out (use up (resources or materials))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make a fool or dupe of

Synonyms:

befool; fool; gull

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "fool" is one way to...):

cozen; deceive; delude; lead on (be false to; be dishonest with)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

fool (a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of)

fool (a person who lacks good judgment)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“Sorry to bring you out on such a fool’s errand, Watson,” he said at last.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Ah, it’s myself that knows ye for a blitherin’ fool.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

And now I am crying like a silly fool, when I know it comes from my husband's great love and from the good, good wishes of those other strong men.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Our people, who discovered the cause of my mirth, bore me company in laughing, at which the old fellow was fool enough to be angry and out of countenance.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

She is a great fool for going away, if she liked him.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

That comes from my fool's talk, cried the archer; for being a man of no learning myself, my tongue turns to blades and targets, even as my hand does.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Was it not enough to make the fool of me which I appeared?

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Now, ma'am, am I a fool?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Morland is a fool for not keeping a horse and gig of his own.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I was playing the fool with my eyes open.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)