fool's cap

American  

noun

1. a traditional jester's cap or hood, often multicolored and usually having several drooping peaks from which bells are hung.

2. dunce cap.

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fool's cap British  

noun

1. a hood or cap with bells or tassels, worn by court jesters

2. a dunce's cap

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Etymology

Origin of fool's cap

First recorded in 1625–35

Example Sentences

He puts on his fool’s cap and plays and dances and hopes he amuses.”

From New York Times • Mar. 24, 2023

"Troel" is quite the fantastical creature with his carrot-shaped nose, crooked fool's cap, wispy beard and blearily closed eyes.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 27, 2012

Over the burgher's shoulder, Jordaens has painted himself, sporting a fool's cap.

From Time Magazine Archive

They wore an emblem of a fool's cap and bells, or a monk's cowl, which was supposed to mock the Cardinal's contemptuous allusion to the nobles as buffoons.

From Heroes of Modern Europe by Birkhead, Alice

He proposed a dark-gray habit, which, instead of the aiguillettes commonly suspended from the shoulders, should have flat pieces of cloth, embroidered with the figure of a head and a fool's cap.

From History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, Vols. 1 and 2 by Prescott, William Hickling