foolish

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fool·ish

(fo͞o′lĭsh)

adj.

1. Lacking or exhibiting a lack of good sense or judgment; silly: a foolish boy; a foolish purchase.

2. Capable of arousing laughter; absurd or ridiculous: a foolish grin.

3. Embarrassed; abashed: I feel foolish telling you this.

4. Insignificant; trivial: foolish little knickknacks.

fool′ish·ly adv.

fool′ish·ness n.

Synonyms: foolish, absurd, fatuous, ludicrous, preposterous, ridiculous, silly
These adjectives are applied to people or things that show an absence of good judgment or common sense: a foolish expenditure of energy; an absurd idea that is bound to fail; fatuous optimism that does not take the real problem into account; dismissed her ludicrous criticism; a preposterous excuse that no one believed; offered a ridiculous explanation for his tardiness; a silly argument.

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.

foolish

(ˈfuːlɪʃ)

adj

1. unwise; silly

2. resulting from folly or stupidity

3. ridiculous or absurd; not worthy of consideration

4. weak-minded; simple

5. an archaic word for insignificant

ˈfoolishly adv

ˈfoolishness n

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

fool•ish

(ˈfu lɪʃ)

adj.

1. resulting from or showing a lack of sense.

2. lacking forethought or caution.

3. insignificant or paltry.

[1250–1300]

fool′ish•ly, adv.

fool′ish•ness, n.

syn: foolish, fatuous, inane imply weakness of intellect and lack of judgment. foolish implies lack of common sense or good judgment or, sometimes, weakness of mind: a foolish decision; a foolish child. fatuous implies being not only foolish, dull, and vacant in mind, but complacent and highly self-satisfied as well: a fatuous grin. inane suggests a lack of content, meaning, or purpose: inane conversation about the weather.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	foolish - devoid of good sense or judgment; "foolish remarks"; "a foolish decision" inadvisable, unadvisable - not prudent or wise; not recommended; "running on the ice is inadvisable" ill-advised, unadvised - without careful prior deliberation or counsel; "ill-advised efforts"; "it would be ill-advised to accept the offer"; "took the unadvised measure of going public with the accusations" impolitic - not politic; "an impolitic approach to a sensitive issue" imprudent - not prudent or wise; "very imprudent of her mother to encourage her in such silly romantic ideas"; "would be imprudent for a noneconomist to talk about the details of economic policy"- A.M.Schlesinger wise - having or prompted by wisdom or discernment; "a wise leader"; "a wise and perceptive comment"
	2.	foolish - having or revealing stupidity; "ridiculous anserine behavior"; "a dopey answer"; "a dopey kid"; "some fool idea about rewriting authors' books" dopey, dopy, gooselike, goosey, goosy, anserine, jerky colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech stupid - lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity

foolish

adjective

1. unwise, silly, absurd, rash, unreasonable, senseless, short-sighted, ill-advised, foolhardy, nonsensical, inane, indiscreet, ill-judged, ill-considered, imprudent, unintelligent, asinine, injudicious, incautious It would be foolish to raise hopes unnecessarily.
unwise sound, bright, sharp, smart, wise, clever, intelligent, sensible, cautious, rational, thoughtful, prudent, sane, judicious, commonsensical, sagacious

2. silly, stupid, mad, daft (informal), simple, weak, crazy, ridiculous, dumb (informal), ludicrous, senseless, barmy (slang), potty (Brit. informal), goofy (informal), idiotic, half-baked (informal), dotty (slang), inane, fatuous, loopy (informal), witless, crackpot (informal), moronic, brainless, half-witted, imbecilic, off your head (informal), braindead (informal), harebrained, as daft as a brush (informal, chiefly Brit.), dumb-ass (slang), doltish How foolish I was not to have seen my doctor earlier.

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

foolish

adjective

1. Displaying a complete lack of forethought and good sense:

brainless, fatuous, insensate, mindless, senseless, silly, unintelligent, weak-minded, witless.

2. So senseless as to be laughable:

absurd, harebrained, idiotic, imbecilic, insane, lunatic, mad, moronic, nonsensical, preposterous, silly, softheaded, tomfool, unearthly, zany.

Informal: cockeyed, crazy, loony, loopy.

Slang: balmy, dippy, dopey, jerky, sappy, wacky.

Translations

أَحْمَقسَخيفغَبي

nerozumnýpitomýpošetilýsměšný

tåbeliglatterlig

albern blöd dumm töricht

ανόητος αποκλίνων βλάκας κουτός μουρλός

tonto bobo imprudente pazguato ridículo

typerä

aberrant absurde bête étourdi idiot

budalast

fáránlegurheimskulegur

sciocco stolto stupido insensato

ばかな

어리석은

dwaas

fjollet skrullet tosket

głupi

tolo

глупый

nespameten

fånig

โง่

aptal gülünç saf

ngớ ngẩn

愚蠢的可笑的

foolish

[ˈfuːlɪʃ] ADJ

1. (= unwise, foolhardy) [person] → insensato; [mistake] → estúpido, tonto; [decision] → imprudente
he will be remembered as a foolish man → se le recordará como un insensato
don't be foolish → no seas tonto
I was foolish but I won't resign → hice una tontería pero no voy a dimitir
it would be foolish to believe him → sería una tontería or una estupidez creerle
don't do anything foolish → no hagas ninguna tontería or insensatez
it was foolish of him to do that → fue una tontería por su parte hacer eso
it would be foolish of him to resign → sería una tontería que dimitiese
to do something foolish → hacer una tontería or insensatez
what a foolish thing to do! → ¡hacer eso fue una tontería!

2. (= ridiculous, laughable) [person, question] → estúpido, tonto
to feel foolish → sentirse ridículo, sentirse idiota
to look foolish → hacer el ridículo, quedar como un idiota
to make sb look foolish → dejar a algn en ridículo

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

foolish

[ˈfuːlɪʃ] adj

[person] → bête
to look foolish → avoir l'air bête

(= rash) [behaviour] → imprudent(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

foolish

adj person, decision, statement, action, mistake → dumm, töricht (geh); question → dumm, blöd (inf); he said his action had been foolish → er sagte, dass er sich dumm verhalten or eine Dummheit gemacht hatte; don’t do anything foolish → mach keinen Unsinn; she had done something foolish → sie hatte eine Dummheit gemacht; what a foolish thing to do → wie kann man nur so dumm sein or so etwas Dummes tun; to feel foolish → sich (dat) → dumm or lächerlich vorkommen; to look foolish → dumm aussehen, sich lächerlich machen; he’s afraid of looking foolish → er will sich nicht lächerlich machen or sich nicht blamieren; to make somebody look foolish → jdn blamieren; it made him look foolish → dadurch hat er sich blamiert

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

foolish

[ˈfuːlɪʃ] adj (senseless) → sciocco/a, stupido/a, insensato/a; (ridiculous) → ridicolo/a, assurdo/a; (unwise) → imprudente
that was very foolish of you → è stato molto sciocco da parte tua

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

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 adverb

ˈfoolishness noun

ˈfoolhardy adjective

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

ˈfoolhardiness noun

ˈfoolproof 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.

foolish

→ أَحْمَق pitomý tåbelig blöd κουτός bobo typerä bête budalast sciocco ばかな 어리석은 dwaas fjollet głupi tolo глупый fånig โง่ saf ngớ ngẩn 愚蠢的

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References in classic literature ?

It stood close to the roadside and over the door was a sign that read: "Miss Foolish Owl and Mr.

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But all these foolish arguments of old Sag-Harbor only evinced his foolish pride of reason --a thing still more reprehensible in him, seeing that he had but little learning except what he had picked up from the sun and the sea.

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As the only endowments with which Nature had gifted Lady Crawley were those of pink cheeks and a white skin, and as she had no sort of character, nor talents, nor opinions, nor occupations, nor amusements, nor that vigour of soul and ferocity of temper which often falls to the lot of entirely foolish women, her hold upon Sir Pitt's affections was not very great.

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For the cool fresh dew will render thee far More lovely and sweet than the brightest star; They were made for Heaven, and can never come to shine Like the fire-fly thou hast in that foolish breast of thine.

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The foolish animal no sooner perceived itself at liberty, than forgetting all the favours it had received from Sophia, it flew directly from her, and perched on a bough at some distance.

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Foolish is my happiness, and foolish things will it speak: it is still too young--so have patience with it!

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"Tell them it would be foolish for me to eat the piglet, because I had sense enough to know it would raise a row if I did.

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'It is only my foolish fancy, mama,' said Kate, forcing a smile.

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"You dare to tell me openly that you will abuse your position, that you will keep me bound a servant to the cause, because of this foolish fancy of yours?"

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Just as they were expiring, they exclaimed, "O foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves."

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Foolish heart and faithful hand, Little feet that touched no land.

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In silence let him lie: No need to waste the foolish tear,

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