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| Court jester, or "fool." |
The custom of playing tricks on people on April 1 spread to Britain in the 1600s from Europe, and the term April fool was recorded by 1629.
Definitions
• fool = (n.) a person lacking in judgment or intelligence.
→ Only a fool would ride a bicycle on an expressway.
→ She looked like a fool in that costume.
• fool = (v.) to trick someone.
→ George fooled me when he said it was raining.
• fool = (v.) to speak humorously or in jest.
→ I was only fooling when I said there was a storm—it’s not really raining out.
• foolish = (adj.) having or showing a lack of good judgment.
→ Riding a bike without a helmet is foolish. It’s a foolish thing to do.
• foolish = (adj.) ridiculous.
→ I look foolish when I dance.
• foolish = (adj.) embarrassed.
→ Terry felt foolish when she couldn’t find her car in the mall’s parking lot.
Foolish Idioms
• make a fool (out) of = to make someone seem foolish or ridiculous. Also: make a monkey out of, make an ass out of.
→ Mike made a fool out of himself when he tried speaking with a fake accent.
→ Nancy often makes a fool out of her opponents in chess.
• nobody’s fool = a person who can’t be tricked or made a fool.
→ Stan’s nobody’s fool—no one can fool him.
→ The used-car salesman demanded an unreasonably high price for the car, but it didn't work. I'm nobody's fool.
• not suffer fools gladly = not patient when people act foolishly.
→ Think before you speak at the meeting. The boss doesn’t suffer fools gladly.
• play the fool = to pretend to be dumb or foolish.
→ Jim played the fool and pretended he didn’t know a thing about computers.
• take for a fool = to assume someone lacks knowledge or judgment.
→ Don’t take Kim for a fool. She knows well what she’s doing.
• fool’s paradise = a state of false hope, believing in something that won’t happen.
→ Kate’s been living in a fool’s paradise, thinking her boutique will succeed.
• fool’s errand = a task or errand that cannot be completed, that is a waste of time.
→ We drove around for an hour trying to find an open dry cleaner, but at that time of night it was a fool’s errand.
Phrasal Verbs
• fool around = to spend time having fun or being silly.
→ We spent Sunday at home just fooling around and watching movies.
• fool with = to touch or play with something dangerous. Also: fool around. (US, informal.)
→ Never fool (around) with the electric saw. It’s not a toy.
Images: (Top) John Watson Nicol, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
(C) 2021 by Targets in English. All rights reserved.
