fool

(fo͞ol)

1. One who is deficient in judgment, sense, or understanding.

2. One who acts unwisely on a given occasion: I was a fool to have quit my job.

3. One who has been tricked or made to appear ridiculous; a dupe: They made a fool of me by pretending I had won.

4. Informal A person with a talent or enthusiasm for a certain activity: a dancing fool; a fool for skiing.

5. A member of a royal or noble household who provided entertainment, as with jokes or antics; a jester.

6. One who subverts convention or orthodoxy or varies from social conformity in order to reveal spiritual or moral truth: a holy fool.

7. A dessert made of stewed or puréed fruit mixed with cream or custard and served cold.

8. Archaic A mentally deficient person; an idiot.

v. fooled, fool·ing, fools

v.tr.

1. To deceive or trick; dupe: "trying to learn how to fool a trout with a little bit of floating fur and feather" (Charles Kuralt).

2. To confound or prove wrong; surprise, especially pleasantly: We were sure they would fail, but they fooled us.

v.intr.

1. Informal

a. To speak or act facetiously or in jest; joke: I was just fooling when I said I had to leave.

b. To behave comically; clown.

c. To feign; pretend: He said he had a toothache but he was only fooling.

2. To engage in idle or frivolous activity.

3. To toy, tinker, or mess: shouldn't fool with matches.

adj. Informal

Foolish; stupid: off on some fool errand or other.

Phrasal Verbs:

fool around Informal

1. To engage in idle or casual activity; putter: was fooling around with the old car in hopes of fixing it.

2. To engage in frivolous activity; make fun.

3. To engage in casual sexual activity.

a. To have a sexual affair with someone who is not one's spouse or partner.

b. To have many sexual affairs.

fool away

To waste (time or money) foolishly; squander: fooled away the week's pay on Friday night.

Idiom:

play/act the fool

1. To act in an irresponsible or foolish manner.

2. To behave in a playful or comical manner.

[Middle English fol, from Old French, from Late Latin follis, windbag, fool, from Latin follis, bellows; see bhel- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fool

(fuːl)

1. a person who lacks sense or judgement

2. a person who is made to appear ridiculous

3. (Historical Terms) (formerly) a professional jester living in a royal or noble household

4. obsolete an idiot or imbecile: the village fool.

5. form the fool Caribbean to play the fool or behave irritatingly

6. no fool a wise or sensible person

7. play the fool act the fool to deliberately act foolishly; indulge in buffoonery

8. (tr) to deceive (someone), esp in order to make him or her look ridiculous

9. (intr; foll by with, around with, or about with) informal to act or play (with) irresponsibly or aimlessly: to fool around with a woman.

10. (intr) to speak or act in a playful, teasing, or jesting manner

11. (foll by: away) to squander; fritter: he fooled away a fortune.

12. fool along US to move or proceed in a leisurely way

[C13: from Old French fol mad person, from Late Latin follis empty-headed fellow, from Latin: bellows; related to Latin flāre to blow]

fool

(fuːl)

(Cookery) chiefly Brit a dessert made from a purée of fruit with cream or custard: gooseberry fool.

[C16: perhaps from fool¹]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fool¹

(ful)

1. a silly or stupid person.

2. a professional jester, formerly kept by a person of rank for amusement: the court fool.

3. a person who has been tricked or deceived into appearing silly or stupid: to make a fool of someone.

4. an ardent enthusiast who cannot resist an opportunity to indulge an enthusiasm (usu. prec. by a present participle): a dancing fool.

v.t.

5. to trick, deceive, or impose on: They tried to fool us.

v.i.

6. to act like a fool; joke; play.

7. to jest; pretend; make believe: I was only fooling.

8. fool around,

a. to putter aimlessly; waste time.

b. to trifle or flirt.

c. to be sexually promiscuous; engage casually in sexual activity.

9. fool away, to squander foolishly, as time or money.

10. fool with, to handle or play with idly or carelessly.

Idioms:

act or play the fool, to engage in silly or stupid behavior.

[1225–75; Middle English fol, fool < Old French fol < Latin follis bellows, bag]

fool²

(ful)

an English dessert of crushed, cooked fruit mixed with cream or custard and served cold: gooseberry fool.

[1590–1600]

fool

Past participle: fooled
Gerund: fooling

Imperative
fool
fool

Present
I fool
you fool
he/she/it fools
we fool
you fool
they fool

Preterite
I fooled
you fooled
he/she/it fooled
we fooled
you fooled
they fooled

Present Continuous
I am fooling
you are fooling
he/she/it is fooling
we are fooling
you are fooling
they are fooling

Present Perfect
I have fooled
you have fooled
he/she/it has fooled
we have fooled
you have fooled
they have fooled

Past Continuous
I was fooling
you were fooling
he/she/it was fooling
we were fooling
you were fooling
they were fooling

Past Perfect
I had fooled
you had fooled
he/she/it had fooled
we had fooled
you had fooled
they had fooled

Future
I will fool
you will fool
he/she/it will fool
we will fool
you will fool
they will fool

Future Perfect
I will have fooled
you will have fooled
he/she/it will have fooled
we will have fooled
you will have fooled
they will have fooled

Future Continuous
I will be fooling
you will be fooling
he/she/it will be fooling
we will be fooling
you will be fooling
they will be fooling

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been fooling
you have been fooling
he/she/it has been fooling
we have been fooling
you have been fooling
they have been fooling

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been fooling
you will have been fooling
he/she/it will have been fooling
we will have been fooling
you will have been fooling
they will have been fooling

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been fooling
you had been fooling
he/she/it had been fooling
we had been fooling
you had been fooling
they had been fooling

Conditional
I would fool
you would fool
he/she/it would fool
we would fool
you would fool
they would fool

Past Conditional
I would have fooled
you would have fooled
he/she/it would have fooled
we would have fooled
you would have fooled
they would have fooled

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	fool - a person who lacks good judgment muggins, saphead, tomfool, sap buffoon, clown - a rude or vulgar fool flibbertigibbet, foolish woman - a female fool bozo, cuckoo, fathead, goof, goofball, jackass, zany, goose - a man who is a stupid incompetent fool meshuggeneh, meshuggener - (Yiddish) a crazy fool morosoph - a learned fool putz - (Yiddish) a fool; an idiot simpleton, simple - a person lacking intelligence or common sense wally - a silly and inept person; someone who is regarded as stupid
	2.	fool - a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of chump, fall guy, gull, patsy, soft touch, sucker, mug, mark dupe, victim - a person who is tricked or swindled
	3.	fool - a professional clown employed to entertain a king or nobleman in the Middle Ages jester, motley fool merry andrew, buffoon, clown, goof, goofball - a person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior
Verb	1.	fool - make a fool or dupe of befool, gull cozen, deceive, delude, lead on - be false to; be dishonest with
	2.	fool - spend frivolously and unwisely; "Fritter away one's inheritance" fool away, fritter, fritter away, frivol away, dissipate, shoot ware, squander, consume, waste - spend extravagantly; "waste not, want not"
	3.	fool - fool or hoax; "The immigrant was duped because he trusted everyone"; "You can't fool me!" cod, dupe, put one across, put one over, slang, take in, gull, befool, put on kid, pull the leg of - tell false information to for fun; "Are you pulling my leg?" deceive, lead astray, betray - cause someone to believe an untruth; "The insurance company deceived me when they told me they were covering my house"
	4.	fool - indulge in horseplay; "Enough horsing around--let's get back to work!"; "The bored children were fooling about" fool around, horse around, arse around jest, joke - tell a joke; speak humorously; "He often jokes even when he appears serious" play - be at play; be engaged in playful activity; amuse oneself in a way characteristic of children; "The kids were playing outside all day"; "I used to play with trucks as a little girl"

fool

noun

1. simpleton, idiot, mug (Brit. slang), berk (Brit. slang), charlie (Brit. informal), silly, goose (informal), dope (informal), jerk (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), dummy (slang), ass (U.S. & Canad. taboo slang), clot (Brit. informal), plank (Brit. slang), sap (slang), prick (derogatory slang), wally (slang), illiterate, prat (slang), plonker (slang), coot, moron, nit (informal), git (Brit. slang), geek (slang), twit (informal, chiefly Brit.), bonehead (slang), chump (informal), dunce, imbecile (informal), loon, clod, cretin, oaf, bozo (U.S. slang), dullard, dimwit (informal), ignoramus, dumbo (slang), jackass, dipstick (Brit. slang), dickhead (slang), gonzo (slang), schmuck (U.S. slang), dork (slang), nitwit (informal), dolt, blockhead, ninny, divvy (Brit. slang), bird-brain (informal), pillock (Brit. slang), halfwit, nincompoop, dweeb (U.S. slang), putz (U.S. slang), fathead (informal), weenie (U.S. informal), schlep (U.S. slang), eejit (Scot. & Irish), thicko (Brit. slang), dumb-ass (slang), pea-brain (slang), gobshite (Irish taboo slang), dunderhead, numpty (Scot. informal), doofus (slang, chiefly U.S.), lamebrain (informal), fuckwit (taboo slang), mooncalf, thickhead, clodpate (archaic), dickwit (slang), nerd or nurd (slang), numbskull or numskull, twerp or twirp (informal) He'd been a fool to get involved with her.
simpleton expert, master, genius, scholar, sage, boffin (Brit. informal), wise man, rocket scientist (informal, chiefly U.S.), savant, fundi (S. African)

2. dupe, butt, mug (Brit. slang), sucker (slang), gull (archaic), stooge (slang), laughing stock, pushover (informal), fall guy (informal), chump (informal), greenhorn (informal), easy mark (informal) He feels she has made a fool of him.

3. jester, comic, clown, harlequin, motley, buffoon, pierrot, court jester, punchinello, joculator or (fem.) joculatrix, merry-andrew Every good court has its resident fool.

verb

1. deceive, cheat, mislead, delude, kid (informal), trick, take in, con (informal), stiff (slang), have (someone) on, bluff, hoax, dupe, beguile, gull (archaic), swindle, make a fool of, bamboozle, hoodwink, take for a ride (informal), put one over on (informal), play a trick on, pull a fast one on (informal) Art dealers fool a lot of people.

act or play the fool mess about, show off (informal), clown, play (silly) games, be silly, frolic, cavort, act up, lark about (informal), piss about (taboo slang), piss around (taboo slang), act the goat, cut capers, play the goat He likes to act the fool.

fool around or about

1. mess about, sleep around (informal), womanize (informal), philander, flirt, court, toy, trifle, mess about, mess around, dally, coquet Her husband was fooling around.

2. (Informal) mess about, hang around, idle, waste time, lark, play about, dawdle, kill time, fool about, play the fool, act the fool, footle (informal) Stop fooling about.

fool around with something (Informal) play around with, play with, tamper with, toy with, mess around with, meddle with, trifle with, fiddle around with (informal), monkey around with, piss about with (taboo slang), piss around with (taboo slang) He was fooling around with his cot, and he fell out of bed.

Quotations
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread" [Alexander Pope An Essay on Criticism]
"A fool and his words are soon parted" [William Shenstone Works]
"A fool uttereth all his mind" Bible: Proverbs
"I am two fools, I know,"
"For loving, and for saying so"
"In whining poetry" [John Donne Songs and Sonnets]
"Who loves not woman, wine and song"
"Remains a fool his whole life long" [attributed to Martin Luther]
"Be wise with speed;"
"A fool at forty is a fool indeed" [Edward Young The Love of Fame]
"There's a sucker born every minute" [Phineas T. Barnum]
"You may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time" [attributed to both Phineas T. Barnum and Abraham Lincoln]
"A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees" [William Blake The Marriage of Heaven and Hell]
"A knowledgeable fool is a greater fool than an ignorant fool" [Molière Les Femmes Savantes]

Proverbs
"A fool and his money are soon parted"
"There's no fool like an old fool"
"Fools build houses and wise men live in them"
"A fool may give a wise man counsel"

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

fool

noun

1. One deficient in judgment and good sense:

ass, idiot, imbecile, jackass, mooncalf, moron, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, simple, simpleton, softhead, tomfool.

2. A person who is easily deceived or victimized:

Chiefly British: mug.

verb

1. To cause to accept what is false, especially by trickery or misrepresentation:

beguile, betray, bluff, cozen, deceive, delude, double-cross, dupe, hoodwink, humbug, mislead, take in, trick.

2. To waste time by engaging in aimless activity:

3. To handle something idly, ignorantly, or destructively:

4. To move one's fingers or hands in a nervous or aimless fashion:

phrasal verb
fool around

1. Informal. To waste time by engaging in aimless activity:

2. Informal. To make jokes; behave playfully:

3. Informal. To engage in kissing, caressing, and other amorous behavior:

4. Informal. To be sexually unfaithful to another:

phrasal verb
fool away

To spend (money) excessively and usually foolishly:

Translations

أحْمَقمُغَفَّليَتَسَكَّع، يُمْضي وَقْتَه كالأحْمَقيَخْدَع، يَغُشيُضَلِّلُ

абдал

enganar

blázennapálithlupákklamatobelhávat

narnarretåbefjolle rundtfjols

typeryshölmöhovinarrihuijataidiootti

budalazavarati

bolondhülyéskedik

bjáni, heimskingiblekkja, leika áhaga sér eins og bjáni

だますばか者

바보속이다

stultus

kvailyspasirodyti kvailiupastatyti į kvailio padėtįvaizduoti kvailįapkvailinti

apmuļķotmuļķismuļķotmuļķoties

bufonpăcăliprostprosti

blázon

bedakbizgecbudalobukseljnorec

абдал

dåredumbomkrämluranarr

คนโง่หลอก

đánh lừađồ ngốc

fool

¹ [fuːl]

A. N

2. (= jester) → bufón m

C. VT (= deceive) → engañar
you can't fool me → a mí no me engañas
"my husband has always been faithful to me" - "you could have fooled me!" (iro) → -mi marido siempre me ha sido fiel -¡qué fiel ni qué ocho cuartos!
you had me fooled there → casi lo creí, por poco me lo trago
that fooled him! → ¡aquello coló!, ¡se lo tragó!
that fooled nobody → aquello no engañó a nadie, nadie se tragó aquello

fool about fool around VI + ADV

2. (= act the fool) → hacer el tonto
to fool about with sth (= play with) → jugar con algo; (and damage) → estropear algo; (= mess with) [+ drugs, drink, electricity] → jugar con

3. (= have an affair) to fool around with sb → tontear con algn

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

fool

[ˈfuːl]

vt (= trick) → berner, duper
You can't fool me
BUT Vous ne me la ferez pas.; On ne me la fait pas.
to fool sb into doing sth → duper qn pour lui faire faire qch, berner qn pour lui faire faire qch

to fool with sth (= have dealings with) → plaisanter avec qch
to fool with sb (= take risks) → plaisanter avec qn

fool around

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

fool

[fuːl]

2. adj (Am) → sciocco/a

fool about fool around vi + adv

fool

(fuːl) noun

a person without sense or intelligence. He is such a fool he never knows what to do.

verb

1. to deceive. She completely fooled me with her story.

2. (often with about or around) to act like a fool or playfully. Stop fooling about!

ˈfoolish adjective

1. having no sense. He is a foolish young man.

2. ridiculous. He looked very foolish.

ˈfoolishly adverbˈfoolishness nounˈfoolhardy adjective

taking foolish risks; rash. He made a foolhardy attempt to climb the mountain in winter.

ˈfoolhardiness nounˈfoolproof adjective

unable to go wrong. His new plan seems completely foolproof.

make a fool of

to make (someone) appear ridiculous or stupid. He made a real fool of her by promising to marry her and then leaving her when he had spent all her money.

make a fool of oneself

to act in such a way that people consider one ridiculous or stupid. She made a fool of herself at the party.

play the fool

to act in a foolish manner, especially with the intention of amusing other people. He always played the fool when the teacher left the classroom.

fool

→ مُغَفَّل, يُضَلِّلُ hlupák, napálit narre, tåbe Narr, täuschen κοροϊδεύω, κορόιδο engañar, tonto huijata, typerys idiot, tromper budala, zavarati buffone, ingannare だます, ばか者 바보, 속이다 dwaas, voor de gek houden dust, lure głupiec, wygłupić się bobo, enganar, pateta дурак, дурачить dumbom, lura คนโง่, หลอก ahmak, kandırmak đánh lừa, đồ ngốc 傻瓜, 愚弄

fool

fool

fool

fool1

fool2

fool

fool

fool

fool

fool

fool

fool

fool

fool¹

fool²