April Fools' Day
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of April Fools' Day
First recorded in 1745–50; the variant All Fools' Day is first recorded in 1700–05
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Summer gasoline is sold from about April Fools’ Day to Halloween, and winter fuel the rest of the year.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
He inadvertently led this tiny band of eccentrics, plucked from the upper rungs of British society, into a historic plunge off the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England, on April Fools’ Day in 1979.
From New York Times • Nov. 3, 2023
The Farmington Police Department shared details of the encounter on April Fools’ Day, a day after the actual encounter, and assured that this was no prank.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 3, 2023
Polley, who shot to fame as an actor in the 1990s, swiftly realised the letter was not written by the Academy, but by her daughter as an April Fools' Day prank.
From BBC • Apr. 1, 2023
Did you hear him telling Seamus what he did to that witch who shouted ‘Boo’ behind him on April Fools’ Day?
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
