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
Efforts to exert the barest control over their lives—sneaking off to nap, refusing to shower—are reversed, punished, and revealed to be foolish.
—
Moira Donegan, New Yorker, 26 Mar. 2025
Doubting Harrison Smith’s ability to keep contributing into the future would be foolish at this point, but bringing in a capable youngster who could learn from him might also benefit them once Smith retires.
—Alec Lewis, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
Being cheap is completely foolish and a lot of people make that mistake.
—Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 22 Mar. 2025
Interspersed in the narrative, there are South Asian folktales about a jackal who is punished for pretending to be a king and a foolish man who puts all his eggs in a basket.
—Malaka Gharib, NPR, 21 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for foolish
Moira Donegan, New Yorker, 26 Mar. 2025
Doubting Harrison Smith’s ability to keep contributing into the future would be foolish at this point, but bringing in a capable youngster who could learn from him might also benefit them once Smith retires.
—Alec Lewis, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
Being cheap is completely foolish and a lot of people make that mistake.
—Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 22 Mar. 2025
Interspersed in the narrative, there are South Asian folktales about a jackal who is punished for pretending to be a king and a foolish man who puts all his eggs in a basket.
—Malaka Gharib, NPR, 21 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for foolish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foolish
Adjective
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His is a sort of erudite buffoonery that consistently tap-dances between clever, self-aware, and patently stupid.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
22 Mar. 2025
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Ignoring those who served and buried honorably is stupid.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Every major hospital show has confronted this tonal clash throughout its run; stalwarts such as ER and Grey’s Anatomy have depended on ever larger and more absurd set pieces (tank invasions, ferry disasters, helicopter crashes) to ratchet up the action.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
28 Mar. 2025
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With stories of family chaos, missteps and her devoted dog Chunk, Chelsea hilariously tackles the world’s most absurd travel situations.—
Ashlee Conour,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The Liberals' smallest lead was in a poll conducted by Innovative Research among 1,548 Canadian citizens, which showed the party with a lead of just 2 points, on 36 percent to the Conservatives' 34 percent—a lead within the poll's 3 percent margin of error.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Mar. 2025
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Sutter Health Park’s capacity of 14,000 is very small compared to other MLB stadiums.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Moments that may seem silly or insignificant to others — like sharing a particular greeting, teasing each other in a familiar way or even speaking to each other in silly, baby-ish voices — can be great sources of comfort and familiarity for partners.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
29 Mar. 2025
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The industry has seen its fair share of terrible ideas, from the downright bizarre to the silly.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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But their work didn’t rule out the possibility of bizarre algorithms that could somehow use the same piece of memory for storage and calculations simultaneously—the computing equivalent of using a page filled with important notes as scratch paper.—
Ben Brubaker,
Wired News,
30 Mar. 2025
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The movie, based on the video game of the same name, centers around four misfits who are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Aftershocks are typically minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.—
William B. Davis,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
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Three adolescents and the bus driver only sustained minor injuries, while one child was badly hurt.—
Sam Gillette,
People.com,
27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Also, your brother-in-law is mad at the wrong person.—
Karen Fratti,
People.com,
23 Mar. 2025
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Locally, contract negotiations between Chicago Public Schools and the teachers union are getting pretty mad as well.—
Claire Malon,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Your voice is insane.—
Mary Colurso | mcolurso@al.com,
al,
4 Apr. 2023
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But obviously winning the grand jury prize was insane.—
Taylor Antrim,
Vogue,
31 Mar. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Foolish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foolish. Accessed 5 Apr. 2025.
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