fool
fool [fool fools fooled fooling] noun, verb, adjective BrE [fuːl] NAmE [fuːl]
noun
1. countable a person who you think behaves or speaks in a way that lacks intelligence or good judgement
Syn: ↑idiot
•Don't be such a fool!
•I felt a fool when I realized my mistake.
•He told me he was an actor and I was fool enough to believe him.
2. countable (in the past) a man employed by a king or queen to entertain people by telling jokes, singing songs, etc.
Syn: ↑jester
3. uncountable, countable (BrE) (usually in compounds)a cold light ↑dessert (= a sweet dish) made from fruit that is cooked and crushed and mixed with cream or ↑custard
•rhubarb fool
more at not suffer fools gladly at ↑suffer
Word Origin:
n. senses 1 to 2 and v. adj. Middle English Old French fol ‘fool, foolish’ Latin follis ‘bellows, windbag’ ‘empty-headed person’ n. sense 3 late 16th cent. ↑fool ‘foolish’
Thesaurus:
fool noun C (sometimes offensive)
•Don't be such a fool!
sometimes offensive idiot • |BrE, informal, sometimes offensive prat • |especially AmE, informal, sometimes offensive dork • |offensive moron • |especially AmE, informal, offensive jerk •
a complete fool/idiot/prat/dork/moron/jerk
feel/look like a/an fool/idiot/prat/dork/moron/jerk
make a fool/idiot/prat/dork of yourself
Synonyms:
cheat
fool • deceive • betray • take in • trick • con
These words all mean to make sb believe sth that is not true, especially in order to get what you want.
cheat • to make sb believe sth that is not true, in order to get money or sth else from them: ▪ She is accused of attempting to cheat the taxman. ◇ ▪ He cheated his way into the job.
Cheat also means to act in a dishonest way in order to gain an advantage, especially in a game, competition or exam: ▪ You're not allowed to look at the answers— ▪ that's cheating ▪.
fool • to make sb believe sth that is not true, especially in order to laugh at them or to get what you want: ▪ Just don't be fooled into investing any money with them.
deceive • to make sb believe sth that is not true, especially sb who trusts you, in order to get what you want: ▪ She deceived him into handing over all his savings.
betray • to hurt sb who trusts you, especially by deceiving them or not being loyal to them: ▪ She felt betrayed when she found out the truth about him.
take sb in • [often passive] to deceive sb, usually in order to get what you want: ▪ I was taken in by her story.
trick • to deceive sb, especially in a clever way, in order to get what you want.
con • (informal) to deceive sb, especially in order to get money from them or get them to do sth for you: ▪ They had been conned out of £100 000.
which word?
Many of these words involve making sb believe sth that is not true, but some of them are more disapproving than others. Deceive is probably the worst because people typically deceive friends, relations and others who know and trust them. People may feel cheated/betrayed by sb in authority who they trusted to look after their interests. If sb takes you in, they may do it by acting a part and using words and charm effectively. If sb cheats/fools/tricks/cons you, they may get sth from you and make you feel stupid. However, sb might fool you just as a joke; and to trick sb is sometimes seen as a clever thing to do, if the person being tricked is seen as a bad person who deserves it.
to cheat/fool/trick/con sb out of sth
to cheat/fool/deceive/betray/trick/con sb into doing sth
to feel cheated/fooled/deceived/betrayed/tricked/conned
to fool/deceive yourself
to cheat/trick/con your way into sth
Example Bank:
•He thought that being an actor only involved tap dancing and playing the fool.
•I felt like a fool when I realized what I'd done.
•I thought it was safe to leave my suitcase there. More fool me.
•Like a fool, I told her everything.
•She doesn't suffer fools gladly.
•She was angry at having been made a fool of.
•She's nobody's fool. She had the car checked by a mechanic before buying it.
•Stop acting the fool and be serious!
•Stop behaving like a fool!
•That fool of a doctor has prescribed me the wrong medicine!
•The poor old fool was imprisoned on my account.
•They had left me looking like a fool.
•You silly little fool!
•You're an even bigger fool than I thought.
•court fools who used to provide entertainment in the royal court
•Don't be such a fool!
•I made a complete fool of myself in front of everyone.
•You must take me for a fool!
Idioms: ↑act the fool ▪ any fool can ▪ ↑fool and his money are soon parted ▪ ↑fools rush in ▪ ↑make a fool of somebody ▪ ↑make a fool of yourself ▪ ↑more fool somebody ▪ ↑no fool ▪ ↑no fool like an old fool ▪ ↑you could have fooled me
Derived: ↑fool around
verb
1. transitive to trick sb into believing sth that is not true
•~ sb You don't fool me!
•She certainly had me fooled — I really believed her!
•~ yourself You're fooling yourself if you think none of this will affect you.
•~ sb into doing sth Don't be fooled into thinking they're going to change anything.
2. intransitive to say or do stupid or silly things, often in order to make people laugh
•~ (about/around) Stop fooling around and sit down!
•~ (about/around) with sth If you fool about with matches, you'll end up getting burned.
Verb forms: 
Word Origin:
n. senses 1 to 2 and v. adj. Middle English Old French fol ‘fool, foolish’ Latin follis ‘bellows, windbag’ ‘empty-headed person’ n. sense 3 late 16th cent. ↑fool ‘foolish’
Example Bank:
•He fooled them into thinking he was a detective.
•I'm not easily fooled by anyone, least of all you.
•She had me completely fooled for a moment.
•She's not easily fooled.
•You can't fool me with all that nonsense!
•Ha! Fooled you! You really thought I was going to jump, didn't you?
•Just don't be fooled into investing any money with them.
•You're fooling yourself if you think none of this will affect you.
adjective only before noun (informal)
showing a lack of intelligence or good judgement
Syn: ↑silly, Syn: ↑stupid, Syn: ↑foolish
•That was a damn fool thing to do!
•That fool husband of mine locked us out of the house.
Word Origin:
n. senses 1 to 2 and v. adj. Middle English Old French fol ‘fool, foolish’ Latin follis ‘bellows, windbag’ ‘empty-headed person’ n. sense 3 late 16th cent. ↑fool ‘foolish’
See also: ↑fool about
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