befool

American

[bih-fool] / bɪˈful /

verb (used with object)

to fool; deceive; dupe.

Synonyms:

cheat, mislead, delude, bamboozle, swindle
Obsolete. to treat as a fool; call (someone) a fool.

befool British

/ bɪˈfuːl /

verb

(tr) to make a fool of

"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 befool

First recorded in 1350–1400, befool is from the Middle English word befolen. See be-, fool 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.

The action concerns the usual city fellers who atempt to befool the honest but apparently boobish guardian of the two girl orphans and their fortune.

From Time Magazine Archive

If I get out of this squall alive, never more shall woman in the world befool me.

From Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs (1886) by Martinengo-Cesaresco, Countess Evelyn

She saw this man Paroff's hand; and here was the chance to befool and humiliate him and send him off packing to his cold and miserable country.

From The Million Dollar Mystery Novelized from the Scenario of F. Lonergan by MacGrath, Harold

Or was he a very clever scoundrel, with irony lurking in his soft voice, and a chuckle that he could so befool me?

From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March 1930 by Bates, Harry

They are pursuing unreal objects of desire, which cheat and befool the reason, and turn to ashes when they are won.

From Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Dill, Samuel

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