fool

fool¹ [fu:l] n

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1¦(stupid person)¦

2 make a fool of yourself

3 make a fool of somebody

4 any fool can do something

5 be no/nobody's fool

6 gooseberry/strawberry etc fool

7 more fool you/him etc

8 not suffer fools gladly

9 be living in a fool's paradise

10 play/act the fool

11 (send somebody on) a fool's errand

12 fools rush in (where angels fear to tread)

13 a fool and his money are soon parted

14¦(entertainer)¦

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[Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: fol, from Latin follis 'bag for blowing air']

1.) ¦(STUPID PERSON)¦

a stupid person or someone who has done something stupid

= ↑idiot

▪ What a fool she had been to think that he would stay.

▪ Like a fool , I accepted straight away.

▪ You silly old fool !

2.) make a fool of yourself

to do something stupid that you feel embarrassed about afterwards and that makes you seem silly

▪ Sorry I made such a fool of myself last night. I must have been drunk.

3.) make a fool of sb

to deliberately do something to make someone else seem stupid

▪ I suddenly realised that I was being made a fool of.

4.) any fool can do sth

spoken used to say that it is very easy to do something or to see that something is true

▪ Any fool could have seen what would happen.

5.) be no/nobody's fool

to be difficult to trick or deceive, because you have a lot of experience and knowledge about something

▪ Katherine was nobody's fool when it came to money.

6.) gooseberry/strawberry etc fool

BrE a sweet food made of soft cooked fruit mixed with cream

7.) more fool you/him etc

BrE spoken used to say that you think someone was stupid to do something, and it is their own fault if this causes trouble

▪ 'Jim smashed up my car.' ' More fool you for letting him borrow it!'

8.) not suffer fools gladly

if you say that someone doesn't suffer fools gladly, they do not have any patience with people who they think are stupid

9.) be living in a fool's paradise

to feel happy and satisfied, and believe there are no problems, when in fact this is not true

10.) play/act the fool

to behave in a silly way, especially in order to make people laugh

▪ Stop playing the fool! You'll fall.

11.) (send sb on) a fool's errand

to make someone go somewhere or do something for no good reason

12.) fools rush in (where angels fear to tread)

used to say that people are stupid if they do something immediately without thinking about it first

13.) a fool and his money are soon parted

used to say that stupid people spend money quickly without thinking about it

14.) ¦(ENTERTAINER)¦

a man whose job was to entertain a king or other powerful person in the past, by doing tricks, singing funny songs etc

= ↑jester

→↑April fool

fool ²

fool² v

1.) [T]

to trick someone into believing something that is not true

▪ Even art experts were fooled.

you don't/can't fool me

▪ You can't fool me with that old excuse.

be fooled by sth

▪ Don't be fooled by appearances.

fool sb into doing sth

▪ I was fooled into believing their promises.

2.) fool yourself

to try to make yourself believe something that you know is not really true

▪ It's no good fooling yourself. He's not coming back.

3.) you could have fooled me

spoken used to show that you do not believe what someone has told you

▪ 'Look, we're doing our best to fix it.' 'Well, you could have fooled me.'

4.) sb is just fooling

spoken used to say that someone is not serious and is only pretending that something is true

= ↑somebody is just kidding

▪ Don't pay any attention to Henry. He's just fooling.

fool around phr v

1.) to waste time behaving in a silly way or doing things that are not important

= ↑mess around

▪ He always used to fool around in class.

2.) to behave in a way which is careless and not responsible

= ↑mess around fool around with

▪ Some idiot's been fooling around with the electricity supply!

3.) AmE to spend time doing something that you enjoy, but that does not have a particular purpose

= ↑mess around

▪ The boys were out in the yard, just fooling around.

4.) to have a sexual relationship with someone else's wife, boyfriend etc

= ↑mess around

▪ She found out that he'd been fooling around behind her back.

fool with [fool with sth] phr v

1.) to touch or play with something, especially when you should not

= ↑mess with something

▪ Who's been fooling with the radio dial?

2.) to become involved in something which could cause damage or be dangerous

= ↑mess with something

fool ³

fool³ adj [only before noun] AmE informal

silly or stupid

= ↑foolish

▪ What did you say a fool thing like that for?