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

"I won't do anything foolish," he told the newspaper, which said his new cabinet could be announced on Monday or Tuesday.

Read more on Barron's

"Seeing the art market with so much strength almost validated that what we started as maybe foolish young people has become a very mature industry."

Read more on BBC

If it strikes you as foolish, consider how well the serious people’s ideas have turned out in the Mideast.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Would it be foolish to pay it off from my $770K investments?

Read more on MarketWatch

Azerbaijan’s president accused Russia of trying to cover up its role in the crash, saying that Russian authorities’ explanations—which initially faulted a flock of birds and an exploding gas cylinder—were “foolish and dishonest.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

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.