1
as in stupid
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
foolish people who thought that the world would end in the year 2000 a foolish scheme that was supposed to make us all rich
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2
as in absurd
conceived or made without regard for reason or reality
foolish attempts to construct a perpetual motion machine
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3
as in small
lacking importance
the current regulations are cluttered with foolish details that are unnecessarily burdensome
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of foolish
Meanwhile, Nikita Zadorov (three fights) runs his motor and his mouth in hopes of finding someone foolish enough to take his body-slamming bait.
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Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
History will judge the foolish paths taken versus the smart ones avoided.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 Jan. 2026
Here was a foolish and incompetent tribune of the nation’s racist vulgarians, opposed by the prosperous and the well educated, the civilized and the tolerant.
—Rosa Lyster, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
The British right is now arguing that Abd el-Fattah and his celebrity supporters—including Naomi Klein, Olivia Colman, and Mark Ruffalo—have made the British government look foolish.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for foolish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foolish
Adjective
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In tribute to Michael Keane’s hair-pulling on Wednesday, Cerys Jones picked through the stupidest dismissals in Premier League history.—
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To do a lot less foolish, thoughtless, stupid, idiotic things.—
Adjective
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After the first Roundtable, Survivor stalwart Rob Cesternino — perhaps clued in by Candiace’s absurd conga line ploy to get people out of the kitchen — sniffed out that a murder in plain sight could be happening.—
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Contrary to what many may think, the researchers found no correlation between a person’s level of education and their capacity to believe in absurd conspiracies.—
Adjective
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The founders argue that automation should be accessible to smaller operators, including neighborhood bars and private event spaces.—
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There can be 30 minutes of small waves before a sneaker wave strikes.—
Adjective
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To say the road to the Super Bowl goes through Jacksonville sounds silly in the NFL’s grand scheme, but for a talented and decorated Bills group that never has won there, that’s the first stop on the quest.—
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Citing the Monroe Doctrine is silly.—
Adjective
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His work is marked by unusual, even bizarre, material choices that encrust spatial compositions reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s innovative open space plans.—
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Some unnamed Chicago bartender in the early 1880s had the improbable idea of taking a Whiskey Sour and adding a little red wine to the top, inventing in a bizarre flash of insightone of the great warm weather whiskey drinks of our time.—
Adjective
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The most minor miscalculation can botch a landing.—
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Its versatile uses range from nourishing the lips to minor wound care—helping maintain hydration along the way.—
Adjective
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And everyone is mad at Andrew—though this one feels like a rumor and more reality.—
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He’s been thrown straight into a mad month, in which Chelsea have Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Champions League fixtures.—
Adjective
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Or why roads and other critical infrastructure projects now take untold years and insane amounts of money to complete, and by the time they are finally opened are already rendered all but obsolete?—
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In this abjectly insane political environment that Minnesotans have created for themselves, the federal agent has about as much chance of a fair trial as the Vikings have of winning this year’s Super Bowl, which is to say, none.—
Cite this Entry
“Foolish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foolish. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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