foolish

foolishest; foolisher

Foolish people are silly or senseless, and when you do something foolish, it's clearly unwise or irrational. Sitting on the hood of a car while your friend is driving is a foolish thing to do.

Things that show a lack of judgment are foolish, like cheating on a test or running into the street after a basketball. Foolish decisions at work can cost you your job, and foolish comments can hurt people's feelings. Foolish is a 14th century word that comes from fool, a person who's unwise. The Latin root, follis, means "bellows" or "leather bag." The "silly person" meaning comes from the figurative idea of a "windbag."

Definitions of foolish
  1. adjective
    devoid of good sense or judgment
    “foolish remarks”
    “a foolish decision”
    Synonyms:
    inadvisable, unadvisable
    not prudent or wise; not recommended
    ill-advised, unadvised
    without careful prior deliberation or counsel
    impolitic
    not politic
    imprudent
    not prudent or wise
    absurd, cockeyed, derisory, idiotic, laughable, ludicrous, nonsensical, preposterous, ridiculous
    incongruous;inviting ridicule
    asinine, fatuous, inane, mindless, vacuous
    devoid of intelligence
    cockamamie, cockamamy, goofy, sappy, silly, wacky, whacky, zany
    ludicrous, foolish
    fond
    absurd or silly because unlikely
    harebrained, insane, mad
    very foolish
    ill-conceived, misbegotten, misguided
    poorly conceived or thought out
    rattlebrained, rattlepated, scatterbrained, scatty
    lacking sense or discretion
    unwise
    showing or resulting from lack of judgment or wisdom
    see moresee less
    Antonyms:
    wise
    having or prompted by wisdom or discernment
    advisable
    worthy of being recommended or suggested; prudent or wise
    advised, well-advised
    having the benefit of careful prior consideration or counsel
    politic
    marked by artful prudence, expedience, and shrewdness
    prudent
    careful and sensible; marked by sound judgment
    all-knowing, omniscient
    infinitely wise
    perspicacious, sagacious, sapient
    acutely insightful and wise
    owlish
    resembling an owl; solemn and wise in appearance
    sapiential
    characterized by wisdom, especially the wisdom of God
    sage
    having wisdom that comes with age and experience
    show more antonyms...
  2. adjective
    having or revealing stupidity
    synonyms: anserine, dopey, dopy, gooselike, goosey, goosy, jerky
    stupid
    lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘foolish'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family

Vocabulary lists containing foolish

"The Open Window" and "One in a Million"

Edge: Level A, Volume 1, Unit 1, Cluster 3. Here are links to the other clusters within Unit 1: "The Experiment" and "Superstition", "Building Bridges" and "The Right Words at the Right Time", "The Open Window" and "One in a Million"

MORE VOCABULARY LISTS
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