Definition

1. Noun:

   • A person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person: A "fool" is someone who lacks good sense or judgment.
   • A person who is tricked or deceived: A "fool" can be someone who is gullible and easily taken advantage of.
   • A jester or clown: Historically, a "fool" was a professional entertainer, often employed by royalty to amuse with jokes and antics.

2. Verb:

   • To deceive or trick someone: To "fool" means to make someone believe something that is not true.
   • To act in a playful or silly way: To "fool" can mean to behave in a joking, frivolous, or unserious manner.
   • To waste or squander something frivolously: To "fool" can mean to spend or use time, money, or resources unwisely.

Examples

• Noun:
  • He felt like a fool for trusting the stranger. (He felt silly and unwise for trusting the stranger.)
  • The king's fool told jokes to entertain the court. (The king's jester told jokes.)
• Verb:
  • You can't fool me with that old trick. (You cannot deceive me.)
  • They were just fooling around and not doing their work. (They were behaving in a playful, unserious way.)

Advanced Usage

• "to make a fool of oneself": to behave in a way that makes one look silly or foolish.
  • He made a fool of himself by singing loudly in the quiet library.
• "to be nobody's fool": to be a shrewd and intelligent person who is not easily deceived.
  • She's a tough negotiator and is nobody's fool.
• "to play the fool": to act in a silly or foolish manner, often deliberately.
  • He likes to play the fool to make his friends laugh.

Variants and Related Words

• Foolish (adj): lacking good sense or judgment; unwise.
  • It was a foolish decision to go out in the storm.
• Foolery (n): silly behavior; foolish actions or conduct.
  • The meeting was full of childish foolery.
• Foolhardy (adj): recklessly bold or rash; foolishly adventurous.
  • It was foolhardy to climb the mountain without proper gear.

Synonyms

• Noun (silly person): idiot, simpleton, dolt.
• Noun (jester): jester, clown, buffoon.
• Verb (deceive): deceive, trick, dupe, hoax.
• Verb (act playfully): joke, jest, horse around.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Fool around: to waste time in aimless or silly activity; to behave in a playful, unserious, or sometimes promiscuous manner.
  • Stop fooling around and help me with this.
• Fool with: to handle or tamper with something carelessly or dangerously.
  • Don't fool with that electrical socket.

Related Idioms

• A fool and his money are soon parted: A person who is not wise with money will quickly lose it.
  • He bought another useless gadget—a fool and his money are soon parted.
• Fool's gold: iron pyrites, a mineral that resembles gold but is worthless; something that appears valuable but is not.
  • The promise of quick riches turned out to be fool's gold.
• Fool's paradise: a state of happiness based on false hopes or illusions.
  • They were living in a fool's paradise, ignoring all the warning signs.

Noun

1. a professional clown employed to entertain a king or nobleman in the Middle Ages
2. a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of
3. a person who lacks good judgment

Verb

1. indulge in horseplay
   • Enough horsing around--let's get back to work!
   • The bored children were fooling about
2. fool or hoax
   • The immigrant was duped because he trusted everyone
   • You can't fool me!
3. spend frivolously and unwisely
   • Fritter away one's inheritance
4. make a fool or dupe of