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Synonyms

foolhardy

American  
[fool-hahr-dee] / ˈfulˌhɑr di /

adjective

foolhardier, foolhardiest

  1. recklessly or thoughtlessly bold; foolishly rash or venturesome.

    Synonyms:
    incautious, heedless, headlong, impetuous
foolhardy British  
/ ˈfuːlˌhɑːdɪ /

adjective

  1. heedlessly rash or adventurous

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • foolhardily adverb
  • foolhardiness noun

Etymology

Origin of foolhardy

1175–1225; Middle English folhardy < Old French fol hardi. See fool 1, hardy 1

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.

So they’ve been trying to talk their leaders out of this foolhardy mission.

From Salon

“If anyone wants to keep their job as CEO, it would be tremendously foolhardy to adopt a homegrown, vibe-coded solution,” Meyer said, referring to the process of creating software via AI text prompts.

From The Wall Street Journal

Sir Keir added, in an interview with me, that "it would be foolhardy to simply say we would ignore" China.

From BBC

Many have expressed concerns about Starmer visit to China, but the prime minister said it would be "foolhardy to sit with your head in your hands and refuse to engage" with the country.

From BBC

Netflix is so dominant that it seems foolhardy not to bet on its continued success at this point.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.