foolish

[foo-lish]

adjective

1. resulting from or showing a lack of sense; ill-considered: unwise.

   a foolish action;

   a foolish speech.

   Synonyms: thoughtless, imprudent, preposterous, nonsensical, absurd, ridiculous, unintelligent, senseless, brainless, witless, stupid

2. lacking forethought or caution.

   Synonyms: thoughtless, imprudent, incautious, heedless, half-baked, foolhardy, reckless, rash, impetuous

3. trifling, insignificant, or paltry.

   Synonyms: picayune, trivial

foolish

/ ˈfuːlɪʃ /

adjective

1. unwise; silly

2. resulting from folly or stupidity

3. ridiculous or absurd; not worthy of consideration

4. weak-minded; simple

5. an archaic word for insignificant

Other Word Forms

• foolishly adverb
• foolishness noun
• overfoolish adjective
• overfoolishly adverb
• quasi-foolish adjective
• quasi-foolishly adverb
• unfoolish adjective
• unfoolishly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of foolish¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; from Middle English folish, foolish; fool ¹, -ish ¹

Idioms and Phrases

see penny wise and pound foolish.

Example Sentences

"Their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion — which only puts our warriors in danger," he wrote, singling out Kelly as the only one of the six who is still subject to the UCMJ.

Read more on BBC

“Their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion—which only puts our warriors in danger.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Washington would be foolish to mess with it.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As Almond explained, when a person is “so depleted,” it becomes more likely they will do something “foolish.”

Read more on Salon

Ms Rope said she thought it would be "a foolish move" and one that would not go down well.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• absurd 
• crazy 
• fantastic 
• ill-advised 
• insane 
• irrational 
• ludicrous 
• preposterous 
• ridiculous 
• silly 
• stupid 
• unreasonable 
• unwise 

When To Use

What are other ways to say foolish?

A foolish action is one that shows a lack of sense or is ill-considered. How is foolish different from fatuous, silly, inane, stupid, and asinine? Find out on Thesaurus.com.