April fool

American  

noun

1. the victim of a practical joke or trick on April Fools' Day.

2. a practical joke or trick played on that day.

---

April fool British  

noun

1. an unsuspecting victim of a practical joke or trick traditionally performed on the first of April ( April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day )

---

Etymology

Origin of April fool

First recorded in 1680–90

Example Sentences

Suzanne Cumpston, of Cowbridge's Sam Smith Travel, said: "Can't help thinking this is an out-of-date April fool."

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2024

I pity the April fool who doesn’t try this week’s Slate News Quiz.

From Slate • Apr. 1, 2022

On the one hand, could this be an early Google April fool?

From Forbes • Sep. 19, 2013

It turned out to be their April fool joke.

From The Guardian • Mar. 29, 2011

I don’t know what’s in it, and no more do you: perhaps I’m an April fool, or perhaps I am already enormously wealthy; there might be five hundred pounds in this apparently harmless receptacle!”

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 20 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis