fool 1 of 3

noun

ˈfül How to pronounce fool (audio)
Definition of foolnext
1
as in lunatic
a person who lacks good sense or judgment only a fool would attempt to climb that mountain unprepared

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2
as in clown
a person formerly kept in a royal or noble household to amuse with jests and pranks a king's fool could get away with saying things that others in the palace couldn't

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3
as in sucker
a person with a strong and habitual liking for something I'm a fool for ice cream

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fool

2 of 3

adjective

as in foolish
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment he's always got some fool plan or other

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fool

3 of 3

verb

1
as in to deceive
to cause to believe what is untrue I fooled him into thinking that we were driving to the store, not to his surprise birthday party

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2
as in to joke
to make jokes an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fool
Noun
The retail army’s outlandish behavior and eccentric stock choices—which included bankrupt Hertz and Bed Bath & Beyond—led many on Wall Street to initially dismiss them as fools who would soon be gone. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 30 Sep. 2026 Judge Judy star Judith Sheindlin famously does not suffer fools. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 24 Sep. 2026
Verb
In April 1943, Operation Mincemeat used a corpse carrying fake invasion plans to fool Hitler into thinking the Allies would strike Greece rather than Sicily. — Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026 But don’t be fooled by the fluidity, the tablet itself isn’t paper (or even E Ink). — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 30 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for fool
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fool
  1. lunatic
  2. clown
  3. sucker
  4. foolish
  5. deceive
  6. joke
  7. moron
  8. harlequin
Noun
  • The show will serve as a platform for countless lunatics within the InfoWars universe and a platform for larger announcements about the company’s fictional exploits.
    — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Rabin was killed [in 1995], that was a last straw —seeing an extremist right-wing lunatic in Israel kill Rabin and kill the dreams of peace.
    — Shirley Halperin, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of lunatic
Noun
  • Jean pays tribute to the oversized trousers worn by rodeo clowns.
    — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The gasoline shortage has become such a feature of daily life that even clowns at Moscow’s circus have cracked jokes about it.
    — Ivan Nechepurenko, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of clown
Noun
  • The theory seems to be that there will always be another crop of suckers willing to pump money into the ecosystem, so the market will provide.
    — Joseph Kahn, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
  • These sucker shoots can quickly form a thicket of stems that are unsightly, inherently weak, and prone to storm damage if allowed to mature.
    — Luke Miller, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of sucker
Adjective
  • Soaking the suburbs over parking is reminiscent of other foolish, revenue-grabbing ideas, such as a congestion tax aimed at outsiders as a way to gin up money to cover Chicago’s ever-present budget black hole.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026
  • With Oracle having lost more than $20 billion in stock-market value today, this appears to be penny-wise and pound foolish.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of foolish
Verb
  • Some veterans say recruiters deceived them and Haitian authorities tortured them; their families call them scapegoats.
    — Astrid Suárez, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Some of the Colombians have long maintained that they were deceived about the mission and arrived at the home after Moïse had already been killed.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of deceive
Verb
  • The photos went viral and inspired memes, with social media users joking that Affleck's exasperated expression summed up the frustrations of 2020.
    — Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Unless the industry in question is peak grunge, Fox is joking.
    — Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of joke
Noun
  • The unlikely source is Enervate’s company stooge corporate strategist, Ken Davies (Tim Key), a moron by any measure.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 9 Sep. 2026
  • God help us all if some idiot, some moron, ever put you in charge.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 18 July 2026
Definition of moron
Noun
  • The Cézanne is Arlequin, 1888-90, from a set of four harlequin paintings and the only one not held by a museum.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Colorado potato beetles target potato plants, while harlequin beetles do damage to brassica family plants like kale, cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli.
    — Alexandra Jones, The Spruce, 3 June 2026
Definition of harlequin

Phrases Containing fool

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foofaraws
fool
fool's paradise
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Cite this Entry

“Fool.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fool. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fool

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