/ fuːl; NAmE / noun , verb , adjective
■ noun
1.
[ C ] a person who you think behaves or speaks in a way that lacks intelligence or good judgement
SYN idiot :
Don't be such a fool!
I felt a fool when I realized my mistake.
He told me he was an actor and I was fool enough to believe him.
2.
[ C ] (in the past) a man employed by a king or queen to entertain people by telling jokes, singing songs, etc.
SYN jester
3.
[ U , C ] ( BrE ) (usually in compounds) a cold light dessert (= a sweet dish) made from fruit that is cooked and crushed and mixed with cream or custard :
rhubarb fool
•
IDIOMS
- act / play the fool
- any fool can / could ...
- be no / nobody's fool
- a fool and his money are soon parted
- fools rush in (where angels fear to tread)
- make a fool of sb
- make a fool of yourself
- more fool sb (for doing sth)
- (there's) no fool like an old fool
—more at suffer
■ verb
1.
[ vn ] fool sb (into doing sth) to trick sb into believing sth that is not true :
She certainly had me fooled —I really believed her!
You don't fool me!
You're fooling yourself if you think none of this will affect you.
Don't be fooled into thinking they're going to change anything.
2.
[ v ] fool (about / around) (with sth) to say or do stupid or silly things, often in order to make people laugh :
Stop fooling around and sit down!
If you fool about with matches, you'll end up getting burned.
•
IDIOMS
- you could have fooled me
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- fool around
■ adjective
[ only before noun ] ( informal ) showing a lack of intelligence or good judgement
SYN silly , stupid , foolish :
That was a damn fool thing to do!
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun senses 1 to 2 and verb adjective Middle English : from Old French fol fool, foolish, from Latin follis bellows, windbag, by extension empty-headed person.
noun sense 3 late 16th cent.: perhaps from fool foolish .