Fool Meaning
/fuːl/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA person with poor judgment or little intelligence.
nounA jester; a person whose role was to entertain a sovereign and the court (or lower personages).
Sentence Examples
You must be a fool.
Do you take me for a fool?
He is no more a fool than you are.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He felt like a complete ____ after falling for the simple magic trick.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You can't ____ the experienced detective with such a simple and transparent lie about your whereabouts.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English fol (“fool”), from Old French fol (cf. modern French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis. Doublet of fals and follis. Displaced native Old English dwæs.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Erasmus, [...] saide wiselie that experience is the common scholehouse of foles, and ill men: Men of witte and honestie, be otherwise instructed."
— a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, edited by Margaret Ascham, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching Children, to Vnderstand, Write, and Speake, the Latin Tong, […], London: […] John Daye, […], published 1570, →OCLC:
"No man is always a fool, every man is sometimes."
— 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC:
"'If I coloured at all, Mr Edward,' said Joe, 'which I didn't know I did, it was to think I should have been such a fool as ever to have any hope of her. She’s as far out of my reach as—as Heaven is.'"
— 1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 13.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC:
"If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools"
— 1895, Rudyard Kipling, If—:
"You're just a poor misguided fool
Who thinks they know what I should do
A line for me and a line for you
I lose my right to a point of view."
— 2001, Starsailor, “Poor Misguided Fool”:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He felt like a complete ____ after falling for the simple magic trick.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You can't ____ the experienced detective with such a simple and transparent lie about your whereabouts.