April fool

American

noun

the victim of a practical joke or trick on April Fools' Day.
a practical joke or trick played on that day.

April fool British

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of April fool

First recorded in 1680–90

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.

See Examples For:

April fool

A Vale of Glamorgan council spokesman said: "I think it was an April fool."

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2024

That taught me not to April fool my mother again.

From Slate ● Apr. 1, 2018

Virgin pride themselves on April fool releases, and Atlantic is just one of many flooding into reporters’ inboxes from Branson’s subsidiaries.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 1, 2017

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

From Forbes ● Sep. 19, 2013

They thought they had been exploring a tomb, but it was only an April fool joke.

From In Pastures New by Ade, George

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023