| 释义 |
nounfuːlful 1A person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person. Example sentencesExamples - Moussaoui may not have a fool for a client, but that decision may prove to be a foolish one.
- Your email, as any fool can see, verges on illiteracy and incoherence.
- She was making me look like a fool in front of my family.
- No doctor wants to appear a fool in front of his or her colleagues.
- After a while I got concerned that some fool would shoot it.
- The biggest moment in life, I guess, is when I worked that out for myself, when I was about 14, which any fool can do.
- You're just an old-fashioned, close-minded fool who is stuck back in the dark ages!
- The only reason big corporations want to open casinos is to part fools from their money.
- More than a necessary evil, it has become a mandatory fool's errand.
- Yes, I am a drooling, venal dishonest fool who is just lying because she's mean.
- Only fools ever think they can turn things around once it's over.
- This black-robed fool can spout things like this in public, and nobody cares.
- That's a bad solution when taking out one fool will accomplish the same thing.
- He didn't want to look a fool in front of his newest friend.
- We're all on a fool's errand, credit card in hand.
- I will continue to not know such-and-such if I'm treated like an ignorant, unsophisticated fool.
- I wish that fool would just make himself disappear.
- Dealing with drunken fools who don't know when to quit is the downside to any bar job.
- Hey, any fool can open his mouth and espouse a set of ideals, but few ever put them into practice.
- But when I look at the abundant flow of love and respect in my adult life, I know I'm no fool.
Synonyms idiot, ass, halfwit, nincompoop, blockhead, buffoon, dunce, dolt, ignoramus, cretin, imbecile, dullard, moron, simpleton, clod informal dope, ninny, chump, dimwit, goon, dumbo, dummy, dum-dum, dumb-bell, loon, jackass, bonehead, fathead, numbskull, dunderhead, chucklehead, knucklehead, muttonhead, pudding-head, thickhead, wooden-head, airhead, pinhead, lamebrain, pea-brain, birdbrain, zombie, jerk, nerd, dipstick, donkey, noodle British informal nit, nitwit, numpty, twit, clot, goat, plonker, berk, prat, pillock, wally, git, wazzock, divvy, nerk, dork, twerp, charlie, mug, muppet Scottish informal nyaff, balloon, sumph, gowk Irish informal gobdaw North American informal schmuck, bozo, boob, lamer, turkey, schlepper, chowderhead, dumbhead, goofball, goof, goofus, galoot, lummox, klutz, putz, schlemiel, sap, meatball, gink, cluck, clunk, ding-dong, dingbat, wiener, weeny, dip, simp, spud, coot, palooka, poop, squarehead, yo-yo, dingleberry Australian/New Zealand informal drongo, dill, alec, galah, nong, bogan, poon, boofhead US informal wing nut South African informal mompara British vulgar slang knobhead North American vulgar slang asshat archaic tomfool, noddy, clodpole, loggerhead, spoony, mooncalf - 1.1archaic A person who is duped or imposed on.
he is the fool of circumstances Example sentencesExamples - I think Australians would resent this government if they saw they were being duped and treated like fools by them.
- But no; I was deceiving myself, living in a fool's paradise.
- However transitory the contentment is, one loves to live in a fool's paradise.
- But are these nuggets really the key to marketing magic or just fool's gold?
- She'd been a fool - an absolute fool - to trust him so blindly in the first place.
Synonyms laughing stock, dupe, butt, gull, pushover, easy mark, tool, cat's paw informal stooge, sucker, mug, fall guy North American informal sap
2historical A jester or clown, especially one retained in a royal or noble household. Example sentencesExamples - Throughout the plays the resonant names of the great are subjected to comic metamorphoses in the mouths of his clowns and fools.
- In Twelfth Night, Feste plays the role of a humble clown employed by Olivia's father playing the licensed fool of their household.
- So the emperor granted his request and decreed that one day in the year would be set aside for fools and jesters to rule.
- He, too, is an extension of More, both of his comic side in general and of his love of fools and clowns in particular, as reported by Erasmus.
- Samis are often stereotyped as the comical helpers of Santa Claus or, even more negatively, as drunken fools or jesters.
Synonyms jester, court jester, clown, buffoon, comic, joker, jokester, zany, merry andrew wearer of the motley, harlequin, Pierrot, Punchinello, Pantaloon
verbfuːlful 1with object Trick or deceive (someone); dupe. don't be fooled into paying out any more of your hard-earned cash she tried to fool herself that she had stopped loving him Example sentencesExamples - Perhaps fooled by our mangy appearance, he insisted that we order something, his treat.
- I hope you didn't let last year's fake new millennium fool you.
- You can't fool all the people, not even most of the time.
- But most (though not all) modern systems won't be fooled by the trick.
- But I think they are fooling themselves as much as they are trying to fool you.
- And no, this isn't just a clever rhetorical trick to fool you down some byzantine path at the end of which is a political surprise.
- She was fooled into using her fame to help promote a slimming drink, which turned out to be tea.
- They must think I'm easily fooled just cuz I'm a kid.
- We find safety in our technology, even though these shields are cheap tricks, designed to fool us into thinking we are emotionally armored.
- People do parlor tricks because they fool people, right?
- Throw the ball down the middle and let the action on his pitches fool the hitter.
- The design is practically flawless, the use of textures and atmosphere so real that you are fooled into a sense of realism.
- But those who thought they saw statistical relationships were in fact fooled by randomness.
- Do you really think I will be fooled by such simple tricks?
- He even pointed to it, and Mark knew the man was easily fooled.
- Do you mean to suggest that Chinese people are fooled or fool themselves into living in a false world?
- Like most young boys, he saw something irresistible in fooling people with magic tricks.
- "You can't fool all the people all the time, " declared Lincoln.
- If they fool you, they are really just fooling themselves and will end up with a room that will not make them happy.
- He could be trying to warn you not to be fooled by appearances.
Synonyms deceive, trick, play a trick on, hoax, dupe, take in, mislead, delude, hoodwink, bluff, beguile, gull, make a fool of, outwit swindle, defraud, cheat, double-cross informal con, bamboozle, pull a fast one on, pull someone's leg, take for a ride, pull the wool over someone's eyes, throw dust in someone's eyes, put one over on, have on, diddle, fiddle, swizzle, rip off, do, sting, gyp, shaft British informal sell a pup to North American informal sucker, snooker, stiff, euchre, bunco, hornswoggle Australian informal pull a swifty on rare cozen, sharp, mulct 2no object Act in a joking, frivolous, or teasing way. some lads in the pool were fooling around Example sentencesExamples - Our engineers were fooling about in the studio singing vulgar songs and making rude remarks in front of the microphone.
- Destined for academic greatness, Masters says he still had time to fool about at grammar school in Richmond, North Yorkshire.
- These may only be laughing and fooling about, but given all the publicity about drugs etc, people are afraid to walk past or talk to them.
Synonyms fiddle, play (about/around), toy, trifle, meddle, tamper, interfere, monkey about/around informal mess about/around British informal muck about/around - 2.1fool aroundNorth American no object Engage in casual or extramarital sexual activity.
Example sentencesExamples - But for most of history, they just did the fooling around without calling it anything.
- We fooled around a bit, you know.
- The watchman was probably fooling around again - she had no time for this!
- "Stop fooling around Kira, " snapped Rava, coming to a quick halt and eyeing the girl.
- However, he neglected to tell me that he had a girlfriend for the entire three years we'd been fooling around.
- I think he's fooling around with somebody and wants to have the both of us around to play these silly mind games with.
- Because he wouldn't fool around with her, and for that he must suffer!
- "I'm not fooling around, " Colby replied, his own eyes darkening.
Synonyms philander, womanize, flirt, have an affair, commit adultery informal play around, mess about/around, carry on, play the field, play away, sleep around, swing vulgar slang screw around rare coquet
adjectivefuːlful informal attributive Foolish; silly. Example sentencesExamples - At this point, the greater fool theory prevails.
- He said it was due to the fool advice of his father!
- Soppy fool dedications over and done with, I leave you with the following thought, supplied by the ever-reliable source of quotes that is Hamish McT.
- Most were about love and betrayal and many others were indecent things Arnel tried not to think about, although it was hard with that fool grin on the old man's face.
- I know the manor, but not well enough to know the workings of my fool brother's mind.
- And either there aren't any facts or else I can't keep them in my fool head.
- Put a microphone in the face of the fool clergy, and they will say something stupid.
- The fool assassin had found out too much, hadn't he?
- Any fool company can produce an award-winning TV commercial.
- What none of our fool leaders have thought about is the fact that you never tell the enemy what you are going to do.
- If I promise you that, will you go away and stop risking your fool neck to Kevon's temper?
- That things had changed I discovered in my usual fool way.
- Of course, being the stupid fool macho man that I am, I was trying to do it alone!
- At some point in any market boom, the greater fool theory comes into effect.
- ‘Maybe you can talk some sense into that fool woman,’ he said.
- Lord knows nothing else in the fool thing works.
- Sorry about the fool thing, I just got carried away.
- ‘I say we abandon this fool cause, Roux, this is too much’ the man pressed.
- And McClain would be known as the fool predecessor to Thrice.
- It was a foolish, late-night idea powered by a little too much alcohol, and a few soppy fool tendencies.
Phrases Be a shrewd or prudent person. Example sentencesExamples - Harry is nobody's fool, and he knows that his time is running out.
- Ortland has always had more hide than a team of elephants, and he is nobody's fool, but he is looking for someone to adopt him.
- George, who was nobody's fool, didn't believe him.
- His considerable personal successes underline he is no fool.
- Lanidae is nobody's fool, he is aware of something that is in his realm, but beyond that I cannot help you.
- But Mammy is nobody's fool, least of all Scarlett's.
- The Cardinal, who was nobody's fool, knew fine what kind of a send-off he could expect.
- Alex was very clever at school and was nobody's fool.
- But Abelard was an odd man and nobody's fool.
- You can paint the cow or bathe it in perfume, but to no avail - the bull is no fool.
a fool and his money are soon parted proverb A foolish person spends money carelessly and will soon be penniless. Example sentencesExamples - As the saying goes, a fool and his money are soon parted.
- Absent government-imposed distortions, a fool and his money are soon parted.
- They say there's no fool like an old fool, and a fool and his money are soon parted.
- Laughable they may be, but a fool and his money are soon parted.
- After all, a fool and his money are soon parted, and the victims of these scams have brought financial misfortune on themselves, isn't that right?
fools rush in where angels fear to tread proverb People without good sense or judgement will have no hesitation in tackling a situation that even the wisest would avoid. Example sentencesExamples - Perhaps it's foolish, but fools rush in, where angels fear to tread.
1Trick or deceive (someone) so that they look foolish. Example sentencesExamples - He is made a fool of and all's well that ends well.
- I was in my GB skiing outfit and I think he just wanted to make a fool of me.
- Add in his gift for mimicry and he can make a fool of anyone, from fox hunters to Kilroy, Joss Stone to the Botox brigade.
- Life, however, has a habit of making fools of us.
- Nobody makes a fool of Sr. Giovanni and lives to tell the tale!
- I get 10 times a kick out of making fools out of you good guys.
- I dragged her away, demanding to know what was going on between them - I wasn't prepared to be made a fool of like this.
- Television can make a fool of us all, but it was difficult to see what the boss was griping about.
- The judges obviously couldn't stand him making fools out of them.
- ‘I do not appreciate being made a fool of in my own home,’ she stated.
- 1.1Behave in an incompetent or inappropriate way that makes one appear foolish.
Example sentencesExamples - Some officials, if not the government, are making a fool of themselves by targeting the NGOs and maligning them.
- Just as embarrassing are the ones who try to be like ‘one of the lads’, joining in childhood games and generally making a fool of themselves.
- Meanwhile, Nicholls was making a fool of himself whenever his band appeared; seeming childish and conceited in interviews and crazed on stage.
- Durkee had never appeared on camera before and feared making a fool of herself.
- Liam smiled and appeared to be refusing to look at me while I made a fool of myself.
- Other pitfalls of course include making a fool of yourself in front of colleagues at the office party.
- The important thing is not to mind making a fool of yourself.
- Let's assume you've reached a level of expertise where you can handle intermediate blue runs and gentler red-run moguls without making a fool of yourself.
- ‘Most people are so scared of making a fool of themselves that they forget to listen,’ added Hanscombe.
- I think women are a lot more ballsy, less worried about making a fool of themselves.
Used to convey that a specified person is behaving unwisely. if suckers will actually pay to do the work, more fool them Example sentencesExamples - People can write me off, criticise me - more fool them!
- If they choose to go with just one quote, and it's a big one, well more fool them!
- If you believe the rumour, more fool you for believing it.
- I think that's beyond the pale - although, I suppose, it's more fool them for using it.
- Heh, more fool us - we had no idea as to the welcome awaiting us.
- I've been out braving the sale-hungered mobs in Oxford Circus today - yes, more fool me, I know.
- If that's what they wanna pay him, then more fool them!
- ‘If you believe her,’ I snapped before he even had the chance to think about uttering a word. ‘Then more fool you.’
- That's the nature of government: 90 percent of its agencies just aren't very good and, if you put your life in their hands, more fool you.
- If people are silly enough not to shop around on the net for a good price then more fool them!
Behave in a playful or silly way. Example sentencesExamples - They were acting the fool and I just caught them in the act of acting the fool.
- I played the fool through much of university and I always had fun.
- Now, when at work, he was able to play the fool - an idiot with a Rolleiflex.
- I, rather than being tricked and playing the fool, prefer being slapped in the face.
- Senior prisons officers said Friday that the inmates were not on a hunger strike but were ‘simply playing the fool.’
- In order to raise funds for his dream school, he went about begging, singing, playing the fool and enduring humiliation for decades.
- To my relief, both seem willing to offer more than just two-word replies today, with neither playing the fool.
- On stage four young men are rapping, dancing, dissing each other and playing the fool.
- But the film belongs to Clooney, who plays the fool and the charmer with polished, devil-may-care ease.
- Have things changed this much, or am I just once again playing the fool by believing him?
Synonyms clown about, clown around, act the clown, act the fool, fool about, fool around, mess about, mess around, monkey about, monkey around, footle about, footle around, joke, play pranks, indulge in horseplay
there's no fool like an old fool proverb The foolish behaviour of an older person seems especially foolish as they are expected to think and act more sensibly than a younger one. Example sentencesExamples - Just goes to show, there's no fool like an old fool, especially an old fool that trusts the piskies.
- There's no fool like an old fool, these old goats don't know how foolish they look.
- As for Khan, there's no fool like an old fool.
you could have fooled me! Used to express cynicism or doubt about an assertion. ‘Fun, was it? Well, you could have fooled me!’ Example sentencesExamples - Well, you could have fooled me -- the humor in this book demonstrates that you are indeed a funny person.
- Well, with that act you pulled off, you could have fooled me!
Origin Middle English: from Old French fol 'fool, foolish', from Latin follis 'bellows, windbag', by extension 'empty-headed person'. The root of fool is Latin follis, which originally meant ‘bellows, windbag’, and came to mean ‘an empty-headed person’, in the same way that windbag (LME, but E19th in this sense) does in English. The use of fool to mean a jester or clown also goes back to the Middle Ages. People in the 16th century seem to have been particularly aware of the ways in which someone may come to grief through lack of wisdom, especially in their dealings with others. A fool and his money are soon parted, a fool at forty is a fool indeed, and there's no fool like an old fool all come from this period. Two centuries later foolish behaviour was still a matter for concern—in 1711 the poet Alexander Pope published the line which has become proverbial, ‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.’ Eager prospectors have been mistaking worthless minerals such as iron pyrites, or fool's gold, for gold since the late 19th century. The term foolscap for a paper size dates from the late 17th century, and is said to be named after a former watermark representing a fool's cap. Sadly, a traditional story that after the Civil War Parliament gave orders that a fool's cap should replace the royal arms in the watermark of the paper used for the Journals of the House of Commons apparently has no basis in fact.
Rhymes Banjul, befool, Boole, boule, boules, boulle, cagoule, cool, drool, ghoul, Joule, mewl, misrule, mule, O'Toole, pool, Poole, pul, pule, Raoul, rule, school, shul, sool, spool, Stamboul, stool, Thule, tomfool, tulle, you'll, yule nounfuːlful British mass noun, usually with modifier A cold dessert made of pureed fruit mixed or served with cream or custard. raspberry fool with cream Example sentencesExamples - The elderflower has a musky scent that really lifts the gooseberries - try adding it to gooseberry fool too.
- Use it trickled over ice-cream sundaes, on pancakes, or with the banana fool above.
- Fruit fools, jellies, and ice creams were popular desserts.
- A chickpea purée called fool is eaten at breakfast.
- For dessert, we ordered the rhubarb and strawberry fool, with stem ginger ice cream.
- However, the milk content of this fool makes it rich in calcium, a vital bone-building nutrient, which means that it's quite healthy if eaten in moderation.
- You can also use rosemary flowers, lightly folded into fools and creams to be served with a warm cake or fruit tart.
- Celebrate your first spotting with a crumble, then progress to the obligatory and unsurpassable gooseberry fool.
- I think I love the names of trifles, possets, fools and syllabubs more than I enjoy eating them.
Origin Late 16th century: perhaps from fool1. nounfo͞olful 1A person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person. what a fool I was to do this Example sentencesExamples - The biggest moment in life, I guess, is when I worked that out for myself, when I was about 14, which any fool can do.
- I wish that fool would just make himself disappear.
- Yes, I am a drooling, venal dishonest fool who is just lying because she's mean.
- After a while I got concerned that some fool would shoot it.
- Your email, as any fool can see, verges on illiteracy and incoherence.
- Dealing with drunken fools who don't know when to quit is the downside to any bar job.
- No doctor wants to appear a fool in front of his or her colleagues.
- Only fools ever think they can turn things around once it's over.
- We're all on a fool's errand, credit card in hand.
- She was making me look like a fool in front of my family.
- But when I look at the abundant flow of love and respect in my adult life, I know I'm no fool.
- Moussaoui may not have a fool for a client, but that decision may prove to be a foolish one.
- The only reason big corporations want to open casinos is to part fools from their money.
- That's a bad solution when taking out one fool will accomplish the same thing.
- This black-robed fool can spout things like this in public, and nobody cares.
- You're just an old-fashioned, close-minded fool who is stuck back in the dark ages!
- I will continue to not know such-and-such if I'm treated like an ignorant, unsophisticated fool.
- Hey, any fool can open his mouth and espouse a set of ideals, but few ever put them into practice.
- More than a necessary evil, it has become a mandatory fool's errand.
- He didn't want to look a fool in front of his newest friend.
Synonyms idiot, ass, halfwit, nincompoop, blockhead, buffoon, dunce, dolt, ignoramus, cretin, imbecile, dullard, moron, simpleton, clod - 1.1historical A jester or clown, especially one retained in a noble household.
Example sentencesExamples - Throughout the plays the resonant names of the great are subjected to comic metamorphoses in the mouths of his clowns and fools.
- Samis are often stereotyped as the comical helpers of Santa Claus or, even more negatively, as drunken fools or jesters.
- He, too, is an extension of More, both of his comic side in general and of his love of fools and clowns in particular, as reported by Erasmus.
- In Twelfth Night, Feste plays the role of a humble clown employed by Olivia's father playing the licensed fool of their household.
- So the emperor granted his request and decreed that one day in the year would be set aside for fools and jesters to rule.
Synonyms jester, court jester, clown, buffoon, comic, joker, jokester, zany, merry andrew - 1.2informal A person devoted to a particular activity.
Example sentencesExamples - He's weak, an opportunistic fool for love, and finally pathetic.
- It's a nice little job on the side; since I'm the picture taking fool might as well put it all together in a good package.
- And lovesick fool that I am, I always fall for his song and dance.
- The poor old fool truly did live to serve.
- 1.3archaic A person who is duped.
Example sentencesExamples - She'd been a fool - an absolute fool - to trust him so blindly in the first place.
- However transitory the contentment is, one loves to live in a fool's paradise.
- But are these nuggets really the key to marketing magic or just fool's gold?
- I think Australians would resent this government if they saw they were being duped and treated like fools by them.
- But no; I was deceiving myself, living in a fool's paradise.
Synonyms laughing stock, dupe, butt, gull, pushover, easy mark, tool, cat's paw
verbfo͞olful [with object]1Trick or deceive (someone); dupe. he fooled nightclub managers into believing he was a successful businessman she had been fooling herself in thinking she could remain indifferent Example sentencesExamples - You can't fool all the people, not even most of the time.
- Do you mean to suggest that Chinese people are fooled or fool themselves into living in a false world?
- They must think I'm easily fooled just cuz I'm a kid.
- We find safety in our technology, even though these shields are cheap tricks, designed to fool us into thinking we are emotionally armored.
- People do parlor tricks because they fool people, right?
- Perhaps fooled by our mangy appearance, he insisted that we order something, his treat.
- Like most young boys, he saw something irresistible in fooling people with magic tricks.
- But I think they are fooling themselves as much as they are trying to fool you.
- And no, this isn't just a clever rhetorical trick to fool you down some byzantine path at the end of which is a political surprise.
- But most (though not all) modern systems won't be fooled by the trick.
- I hope you didn't let last year's fake new millennium fool you.
- The design is practically flawless, the use of textures and atmosphere so real that you are fooled into a sense of realism.
- He even pointed to it, and Mark knew the man was easily fooled.
- Do you really think I will be fooled by such simple tricks?
- "You can't fool all the people all the time, " declared Lincoln.
- She was fooled into using her fame to help promote a slimming drink, which turned out to be tea.
- If they fool you, they are really just fooling themselves and will end up with a room that will not make them happy.
- He could be trying to warn you not to be fooled by appearances.
- Throw the ball down the middle and let the action on his pitches fool the hitter.
- But those who thought they saw statistical relationships were in fact fooled by randomness.
Synonyms deceive, trick, play a trick on, hoax, dupe, take in, mislead, delude, hoodwink, bluff, beguile, gull, make a fool of, outwit - 1.1no object Act in a joking, frivolous, or teasing way.
I shouted at him impatiently to stop fooling around Example sentencesExamples - Destined for academic greatness, Masters says he still had time to fool about at grammar school in Richmond, North Yorkshire.
- Our engineers were fooling about in the studio singing vulgar songs and making rude remarks in front of the microphone.
- These may only be laughing and fooling about, but given all the publicity about drugs etc, people are afraid to walk past or talk to them.
Synonyms fiddle, play, play about, play around, toy, trifle, meddle, tamper, interfere, monkey about, monkey around - 1.2fool aroundNorth American no object Engage in casual or extramarital sexual activity.
Example sentencesExamples - "I'm not fooling around, " Colby replied, his own eyes darkening.
- We fooled around a bit, you know.
- The watchman was probably fooling around again - she had no time for this!
- Because he wouldn't fool around with her, and for that he must suffer!
- But for most of history, they just did the fooling around without calling it anything.
- I think he's fooling around with somebody and wants to have the both of us around to play these silly mind games with.
- "Stop fooling around Kira, " snapped Rava, coming to a quick halt and eyeing the girl.
- However, he neglected to tell me that he had a girlfriend for the entire three years we'd been fooling around.
Synonyms philander, womanize, flirt, have an affair, commit adultery
adjectivefo͞olful informal attributive Foolish; silly. Example sentencesExamples - At some point in any market boom, the greater fool theory comes into effect.
- What none of our fool leaders have thought about is the fact that you never tell the enemy what you are going to do.
- At this point, the greater fool theory prevails.
- That things had changed I discovered in my usual fool way.
- If I promise you that, will you go away and stop risking your fool neck to Kevon's temper?
- And McClain would be known as the fool predecessor to Thrice.
- The fool assassin had found out too much, hadn't he?
- ‘Maybe you can talk some sense into that fool woman,’ he said.
- He said it was due to the fool advice of his father!
- ‘I say we abandon this fool cause, Roux, this is too much’ the man pressed.
- Most were about love and betrayal and many others were indecent things Arnel tried not to think about, although it was hard with that fool grin on the old man's face.
- Soppy fool dedications over and done with, I leave you with the following thought, supplied by the ever-reliable source of quotes that is Hamish McT.
- Any fool company can produce an award-winning TV commercial.
- Of course, being the stupid fool macho man that I am, I was trying to do it alone!
- It was a foolish, late-night idea powered by a little too much alcohol, and a few soppy fool tendencies.
- Sorry about the fool thing, I just got carried away.
- And either there aren't any facts or else I can't keep them in my fool head.
- Lord knows nothing else in the fool thing works.
- Put a microphone in the face of the fool clergy, and they will say something stupid.
- I know the manor, but not well enough to know the workings of my fool brother's mind.
Phrases Be a shrewd or prudent person. Example sentencesExamples - Ortland has always had more hide than a team of elephants, and he is nobody's fool, but he is looking for someone to adopt him.
- Lanidae is nobody's fool, he is aware of something that is in his realm, but beyond that I cannot help you.
- His considerable personal successes underline he is no fool.
- But Abelard was an odd man and nobody's fool.
- George, who was nobody's fool, didn't believe him.
- You can paint the cow or bathe it in perfume, but to no avail - the bull is no fool.
- Harry is nobody's fool, and he knows that his time is running out.
- Alex was very clever at school and was nobody's fool.
- The Cardinal, who was nobody's fool, knew fine what kind of a send-off he could expect.
- But Mammy is nobody's fool, least of all Scarlett's.
a fool and his money are soon parted proverb A foolish person spends money carelessly and will soon be penniless. Example sentencesExamples - Absent government-imposed distortions, a fool and his money are soon parted.
- After all, a fool and his money are soon parted, and the victims of these scams have brought financial misfortune on themselves, isn't that right?
- Laughable they may be, but a fool and his money are soon parted.
- They say there's no fool like an old fool, and a fool and his money are soon parted.
- As the saying goes, a fool and his money are soon parted.
fools rush in where angels fear to tread proverb People without good sense or judgment will have no hesitation in tackling a situation that even the wisest would avoid. Example sentencesExamples - Perhaps it's foolish, but fools rush in, where angels fear to tread.
1Trick or deceive (someone) so that they look foolish. Example sentencesExamples - I dragged her away, demanding to know what was going on between them - I wasn't prepared to be made a fool of like this.
- ‘I do not appreciate being made a fool of in my own home,’ she stated.
- Add in his gift for mimicry and he can make a fool of anyone, from fox hunters to Kilroy, Joss Stone to the Botox brigade.
- I was in my GB skiing outfit and I think he just wanted to make a fool of me.
- Television can make a fool of us all, but it was difficult to see what the boss was griping about.
- He is made a fool of and all's well that ends well.
- The judges obviously couldn't stand him making fools out of them.
- Life, however, has a habit of making fools of us.
- Nobody makes a fool of Sr. Giovanni and lives to tell the tale!
- I get 10 times a kick out of making fools out of you good guys.
- 1.1Behave in an incompetent or inappropriate way that makes one appear foolish.
Example sentencesExamples - ‘Most people are so scared of making a fool of themselves that they forget to listen,’ added Hanscombe.
- Some officials, if not the government, are making a fool of themselves by targeting the NGOs and maligning them.
- I think women are a lot more ballsy, less worried about making a fool of themselves.
- Let's assume you've reached a level of expertise where you can handle intermediate blue runs and gentler red-run moguls without making a fool of yourself.
- Other pitfalls of course include making a fool of yourself in front of colleagues at the office party.
- Meanwhile, Nicholls was making a fool of himself whenever his band appeared; seeming childish and conceited in interviews and crazed on stage.
- The important thing is not to mind making a fool of yourself.
- Liam smiled and appeared to be refusing to look at me while I made a fool of myself.
- Just as embarrassing are the ones who try to be like ‘one of the lads’, joining in childhood games and generally making a fool of themselves.
- Durkee had never appeared on camera before and feared making a fool of herself.
Behave in a playful or silly way. Example sentencesExamples - I played the fool through much of university and I always had fun.
- To my relief, both seem willing to offer more than just two-word replies today, with neither playing the fool.
- I, rather than being tricked and playing the fool, prefer being slapped in the face.
- On stage four young men are rapping, dancing, dissing each other and playing the fool.
- In order to raise funds for his dream school, he went about begging, singing, playing the fool and enduring humiliation for decades.
- Now, when at work, he was able to play the fool - an idiot with a Rolleiflex.
- Have things changed this much, or am I just once again playing the fool by believing him?
- But the film belongs to Clooney, who plays the fool and the charmer with polished, devil-may-care ease.
- They were acting the fool and I just caught them in the act of acting the fool.
- Senior prisons officers said Friday that the inmates were not on a hunger strike but were ‘simply playing the fool.’
Synonyms clown about, clown around, act the clown, act the fool, fool about, fool around, mess about, mess around, monkey about, monkey around, footle about, footle around, joke, play pranks, indulge in horseplay
there's no fool like an old fool proverb The foolish behavior of an older person seems especially foolish as they are expected to think and act more sensibly than a younger one. Example sentencesExamples - Just goes to show, there's no fool like an old fool, especially an old fool that trusts the piskies.
- There's no fool like an old fool, these old goats don't know how foolish they look.
- As for Khan, there's no fool like an old fool.
you could have fooled me! Used to express cynicism or doubt about an assertion. “Fun, was it? Well, you could have fooled me!” Example sentencesExamples - Well, you could have fooled me -- the humor in this book demonstrates that you are indeed a funny person.
- Well, with that act you pulled off, you could have fooled me!
Phrasal Verbs 1Toy with; play idly with. I like fooling with cameras Example sentencesExamples - It's game is to fool with the very DNA of the world's food supply-putting animal genes into tomatoes, pesticides into corn, etc.
- My presumption would be that she's just fooling with the numbers.
- It would show my mother, aunt and uncle the error of their strip-mining ways, the folly of fooling with Gaia all these years.
- ‘Anytime some software fools with random numbers that is not under [the user's] control, that's bad,’ he said.
- Well, there are some stations that do fool with us as far as that's concerned.
- I didn't fool with the settings today, so I've no clue.
- If you're going to switch time periods and location around, you're fooling with the entire narrative.
- He never fooled with drugs, never drank, never smoked, and went to church.
- I assume that there's still direct Federal benefits in here; if so, it's not worth the trouble of fooling with them for now.
- Can somebody remind me why we let scientists fool with particle accelerators?
- 1.1Tease (a person)
we've just been fooling with you Example sentencesExamples - This is my fault, I shouldn't have been fooling with you while you were driving.
- Leon knew firsthand what a flirt and tease Barbie was, she fooled with all the men.
- I just hope that a nurse hadn't been fooling with him.
- You can't imagine either of them, ever, fooling with anybody else.
Origin Middle English: from Old French fol ‘fool, foolish’, from Latin follis ‘bellows, windbag’, by extension ‘empty-headed person’. nounfo͞olful British usually with modifier A cold dessert made of pureed fruit mixed or served with cream or custard. raspberry fool with cream Example sentencesExamples - A chickpea purée called fool is eaten at breakfast.
- I think I love the names of trifles, possets, fools and syllabubs more than I enjoy eating them.
- However, the milk content of this fool makes it rich in calcium, a vital bone-building nutrient, which means that it's quite healthy if eaten in moderation.
- Use it trickled over ice-cream sundaes, on pancakes, or with the banana fool above.
- The elderflower has a musky scent that really lifts the gooseberries - try adding it to gooseberry fool too.
- You can also use rosemary flowers, lightly folded into fools and creams to be served with a warm cake or fruit tart.
- Celebrate your first spotting with a crumble, then progress to the obligatory and unsurpassable gooseberry fool.
- For dessert, we ordered the rhubarb and strawberry fool, with stem ginger ice cream.
- Fruit fools, jellies, and ice creams were popular desserts.
Origin Late 16th century: perhaps from fool. |