fool

I UK [fuːl] / US [ful] noun
Word forms "fool":
singular fool plural fools
**

1) [countable] someone who does not behave in an intelligent or sensible way

You're a fool if you think you'll ever see that money again.

How could you be such a stupid fool?

feel (like) a fool:

I felt such a fool when he used me as an example!

look (like) a fool:

I'm not wearing that; I don't want to look like a fool.

See:

April fool

2) [countable] a man in the past whose job was to entertain a king, queen, or other important person by making them laugh

3) [countable/uncountable] a sweet food made from crushed cooked fruit mixed with cream and served cold

gooseberry/rhubarb/raspberry fool

•

a fool and his money (are soon parted) — used for saying that someone who is not sensible spends their money carelessly

fools rush in (where angels fear to tread) — spoken used for saying that people who are not sensible do things without thinking carefully about what may happen as a result

make a fool (out) of someone — to deliberately make someone seem stupid, for example by tricking them

I felt that Sally had made a complete fool of me.

(the) more fool you/him/her etc — spoken used for saying that you think someone is doing something stupid

Well, more fool you if you give him any more of your money!

no/nobody's fool — intelligent and with a lot of experience of life so that you do not allow other people to trick you

Her eyes shone with intelligence: she was nobody's fool.

play/act the fool — to deliberately behave in a silly way that annoys people

He just plays the fool, he's definitely not one.

- any fool

- fool enough to do something

- make a fool of yourself

II UK [fuːl] / US [ful] verb [transitive]
Word forms "fool":
present tense I/you/we/they fool he/she/it fools present participle fooling past tense fooled past participle fooled
*

to trick someone by making them believe something that is not true

I was completely fooled by her.

The men had even issued false documents to fool the police.

fool someone into doing something:

Don't let anyone fool you into handing over large sums of money.

fool yourself:

She realized she'd been fooling herself – he didn't really love her at all.

•

just/only fooling — spoken pretending that something is true, as a joke

Don't look so worried – I was only fooling.

- you could have fooled me

Phrasal verbs:

- fool around

- fool around with

- fool with

III UK [fuːl] / US [ful] adjective [only before noun] American informal

stupid or silly

What's that fool boy done now?