fool 1 of 3

1
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

3
4

fool

2 of 3

adjective

fool

3 of 3

verb

Examples 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 year was 2014, the heyday of the Nigerian prince email scam, and the up-and-coming attorney was no fool. Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024 Don’t let limited square footage fool you — the bar carries a full selection of wines, beers and liquors. Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 1 Jan. 2025
Verb
These fakers grab your photo and anything else available on your public profile and try to fool your friends into connecting. PCMAG, 7 Jan. 2025 Its efforts to mask its economic stagnation, political infighting, and failure to innovate often fooled U.S. policymakers; the United States’ tendency toward self-criticism, meanwhile, obscured its own advantages. Jude Blanchette, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for fool 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fool
Noun
  • Both movies feature a killer clown, but while Joaquin Phoenix’s grinning menace suffers from delusions of grandeur and an unspecified mental illness, the hideous ghoul from hell in Terrifier known as Art hacks away at his victims with no discernible motivation beyond the grisly acts themselves.
    Eric Kohn, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Jan. 2025
  • The story features Mauro, a clown who dreams of a carnival where a parade of revelers are celebrating his life.
    Joanne Shurvell, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Give me an army of the little suckers to match every bag.
    Verge Staff, The Verge, 10 Jan. 2025
  • And capitalizing on the tendency of American leaders to look at world politics through the lens of ideological shibboleths, Beijing and Moscow are playing U.S. conservatives for suckers.
    Alexander Cooley, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • If the young shortstop is truly as good as gone, the Blue Jays would be foolish not to trade him.
    Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 8 Jan. 2025
  • While admirable, the plan to resettle the poor was foolish in retrospect as the Low Country soil is sandy and the weather too hot for farming.
    Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 27 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • And unless my eyes deceive me, the shine is turned up to 11 thanks to shimmer in her middle part.
    Marci Robin, Allure, 8 Jan. 2025
  • These include data poisoning, where training datasets are manipulated to compromise models, and adversarial attacks, which involve subtle input changes to deceive AI systems.
    Piyush Ranjan, Forbes, 8 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Guthrie joked to cameras, recalling how the two would need a makeup artist to come in for touch-ups after their off-camera chats got emotional.
    Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 13 Jan. 2025
  • Wyckoff's video on TikTok, which currently as over 260,000 views and over 39,000 likes, was equal parts comedy and commentary as Chet joked about catcalling and cryptocurrency while jogging through the streets of Richmond, Virginia.
    Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 13 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • But this harlequin moll can’t match Joker’s lunacy as either lawbreaker or musician.
    Armond White, National Review, 29 Nov. 2024
  • The doll, which is called the Witch Weaver, wears flared bell-bottoms, a gossamer harlequin blouse, gold waistcoat and crystal headpiece — taking inspiration from Reed’s signature design codes, personal style and even Lady Gaga.
    Violet Goldstone, WWD, 21 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • The Google Pixel 9 Pro is another phone that is great for photography lovers.
    Rachel Wells, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
  • Out back, there’s a chicken house for egg layers and a two-stall barn, with a tack room, for equine lovers.
    Mike Klingaman, Baltimore Sun, 14 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • In the teaser, David says that every single person is a narcissistic psychopath on this show.
    Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Jan. 2025
  • Gibson is making 1991’s Dexter his own, Brown said, by thriving in the complex mask-work that’s required to play a lethal psychopath learning to conceal his still-emerging condition.
    Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 23 Dec. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near fool

Cite this Entry

“Fool.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fool. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on fool

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!