Fool
noun
A person who acts unwisely or imprudently.
You are a fool if you think that plan will work.
Often appears as...
- act like a fool
- play the fool
Usage tips
Disapproving
verb
Trick or deceive someone.
He fooled the guard and escaped from the prison.
Often appears as...
- fool someone into
- fool around
Usage tips
Neutral
noun
A dessert made of fruit puree and cream or custard.
For dessert, we had raspberry fool.
Usage tips
Culinary
verb
Spend time idly or aimlessly.
Stop fooling around and get back to work.
Often appears as...
- fool around with
- fool away
Usage tips
Disapproving
Colloquial
noun
A person who acts unwisely or imprudently.
You are a fool if you think that plan will work.
Often appears as...
- act like a fool
- play the fool
Usage tips
Disapproving
verb
Trick or deceive someone.
He fooled the guard and escaped from the prison.
Often appears as...
- fool someone into
- fool around
Usage tips
Neutral
noun
A dessert made of fruit puree and cream or custard.
For dessert, we had raspberry fool.
Usage tips
Culinary
verb
Spend time idly or aimlessly.
Stop fooling around and get back to work.
Often appears as...
- fool around with
- fool away
Usage tips
Disapproving
Colloquial
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/3Negative connotation
Using 'fool' to describe someone can be insulting and lead to offense.
Calling her a fool in the meeting was disrespectful.
Pro Tip 2/3Verb usage
'Fool' as a noun is different from 'fool' as a verb, which means to deceive.
She plays the fool, but she's actually very smart.
Pro Tip 3/3Literary usage
In literature, a fool can be a character who provides comic relief or wisdom.
Shakespeare's fools often speak the truth dressed in humor.
Pro Tip 1/3Negative connotation
Using 'fool' to describe someone can be insulting and lead to offense.
Calling her a fool in the meeting was disrespectful.
Pro Tip 2/3Verb usage
'Fool' as a noun is different from 'fool' as a verb, which means to deceive.
She plays the fool, but she's actually very smart.
Pro Tip 3/3Literary usage
In literature, a fool can be a character who provides comic relief or wisdom.
Shakespeare's fools often speak the truth dressed in humor.
Pro Tip 1/3Negative connotation
Using 'fool' to describe someone can be insulting and lead to offense.
Calling her a fool in the meeting was disrespectful.
Pro Tip 2/3Verb usage
'Fool' as a noun is different from 'fool' as a verb, which means to deceive.
She plays the fool, but she's actually very smart.
Pro Tip 3/3Literary usage
In literature, a fool can be a character who provides comic relief or wisdom.
Shakespeare's fools often speak the truth dressed in humor.
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Video examples
The language of lying —...
eye trackers, infrared brain scanners, and even the 400-pound electroencephalogram. But although such tools have worked under certain circumstances, most can be fooled with enough preparation, and none are considered reliable enough to even be admissible in court. But, what if the problem is not with the techniques,
Video examples
Thinking your way out of...
working as a night janitor I instantly identified and showed it other the other students as a matter of fact we decide to start a little impostor support group we started meeting and talking about big intellectual frauds and how we're fooling all of our professors and everything went great for about three
Video examples
Why incompetent people...
Second, and more important, keep learning. The more knowledgeable we become, the less likely we are to have invisible holes in our competence. Perhaps it all boils down to that old When arguing with a fool, first make sure the other person isn't doing the same thing.
Video examples
What did democracy...
disparaged this form of democracy as being anarchic and run by fools. But today the word has such positive associations, that vastly different regimes claim to embody it. At the same time, some share Plato's skepticism about the wisdom of crowds.
Video examples
Lemon Andersen performs...
who looked at me up and down and said I don't look like I have any experience to be working in this business. And I said to him, "Listen, punk fool, you're a failed actor who became an agent, and you know why you failed as an actor?
Video examples
The myth of Icarus and...
to fall in love with the king's prized bull. Under this spell, she asked Daedalus to help her seduce it. With characteristic audacity, he agreed. Daedalus constructed a hollow wooden cow so realistic that it fooled the bull.
Video examples
109-Year-Old Veteran and...
but I don't fool with a credit card never be everything are you paid cash for it I got 50 cents a day that's way back in but I lived at that I was ever staying with nickel and dime three cents
Video examples
Cheetahs Enter Stealth...
profile nature has given newborn cheetahs a helping hand to deter predators their fuzzy grey mane aids in camouflage and mimics the fearsome honey badger but it doesn't fool the pied crew
Video examples
The nurdles' quest for...
Meet the nurdles. They may be tiny, look harmless, and sound like a bunch of cartoon characters, but don't be fooled. These little guys are plotting ocean domination.
Video examples
Penguin chicks rescued...
they are close to a meter tall quite a size even for a giant petrel the chick towers to fool height protecting those
Video examples
The language of lying —...
eye trackers, infrared brain scanners, and even the 400-pound electroencephalogram. But although such tools have worked under certain circumstances, most can be fooled with enough preparation, and none are considered reliable enough to even be admissible in court. But, what if the problem is not with the techniques,
Video examples
Thinking your way out of...
working as a night janitor I instantly identified and showed it other the other students as a matter of fact we decide to start a little impostor support group we started meeting and talking about big intellectual frauds and how we're fooling all of our professors and everything went great for about three
Video examples
Why incompetent people...
Second, and more important, keep learning. The more knowledgeable we become, the less likely we are to have invisible holes in our competence. Perhaps it all boils down to that old When arguing with a fool, first make sure the other person isn't doing the same thing.
Video examples
What did democracy...
disparaged this form of democracy as being anarchic and run by fools. But today the word has such positive associations, that vastly different regimes claim to embody it. At the same time, some share Plato's skepticism about the wisdom of crowds.
Video examples
Lemon Andersen performs...
who looked at me up and down and said I don't look like I have any experience to be working in this business. And I said to him, "Listen, punk fool, you're a failed actor who became an agent, and you know why you failed as an actor?
Video examples
The myth of Icarus and...
to fall in love with the king's prized bull. Under this spell, she asked Daedalus to help her seduce it. With characteristic audacity, he agreed. Daedalus constructed a hollow wooden cow so realistic that it fooled the bull.
Video examples
109-Year-Old Veteran and...
but I don't fool with a credit card never be everything are you paid cash for it I got 50 cents a day that's way back in but I lived at that I was ever staying with nickel and dime three cents
Video examples
Cheetahs Enter Stealth...
profile nature has given newborn cheetahs a helping hand to deter predators their fuzzy grey mane aids in camouflage and mimics the fearsome honey badger but it doesn't fool the pied crew
Video examples
The nurdles' quest for...
Meet the nurdles. They may be tiny, look harmless, and sound like a bunch of cartoon characters, but don't be fooled. These little guys are plotting ocean domination.
Video examples
Penguin chicks rescued...
they are close to a meter tall quite a size even for a giant petrel the chick towers to fool height protecting those
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Paulo Coelho
Brazilian Novelist
The wise are wise only because they love. The fool are fools only because they think they can understand love.
Quote examples
George Eliot
British Author
That's what a man wants in a wife, mostly; he wants to make sure one fool tells him he's wise.
Quote examples
William Shakespeare
English Playwright
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
Quote examples
Diogenes
Greek Philosopher
There is only a finger's difference between a wise man and a fool.
Quote examples
Niccolo Machiavelli
Italian Writer
The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.
Quote examples
William Blake
English Poet
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
Quote examples
Benjamin Franklin
American Politician
Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it.
Quote examples
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
French Writer
The heart is forever making the head its fool.
Quote examples
George Santayana
Spanish Philosopher
In Greece wise men speak and fools decide.
Quote examples
Benjamin Disraeli
British Statesman
The fool wonders, the wise man asks.
Quote examples
Paulo Coelho
Brazilian Novelist
The wise are wise only because they love. The fool are fools only because they think they can understand love.
Quote examples
George Eliot
British Author
That's what a man wants in a wife, mostly; he wants to make sure one fool tells him he's wise.
Quote examples
William Shakespeare
English Playwright
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
Quote examples
Diogenes
Greek Philosopher
There is only a finger's difference between a wise man and a fool.
Quote examples
Niccolo Machiavelli
Italian Writer
The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.
Quote examples
William Blake
English Poet
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
Quote examples
Benjamin Franklin
American Politician
Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it.
Quote examples
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
French Writer
The heart is forever making the head its fool.
Quote examples
George Santayana
Spanish Philosopher
In Greece wise men speak and fools decide.
Quote examples
Benjamin Disraeli
British Statesman
The fool wonders, the wise man asks.
Example 1 of 10
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