foolishness
Americannoun
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lack of wisdom or good judgment; foolish quality.
Oh, the foolishness of thinking that wealth brings happiness!
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foolish talk, ideas, or behavior.
How could someone with such a clever mind as yourself talk such foolishness?
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a foolish act, error, habit, etc..
Shakespeare, who looks at all men as if from Mount Olympus, notes their foibles and foolishnesses, and yet smiles on them all.
Other Word Forms
- overfoolishness noun
- unfoolishness noun
Etymology
Origin of foolishness
Explanation
Foolishness is nonsense or stupidity; it's acting in a way that is silly or irrational. Throwing a temper tantrum because the lunch line is moving slowly is pure foolishness — your outburst won't make the line move any faster. When your actions show a lack of good sense or solid judgement, you're betraying your foolishness. Impulsively jumping off the garage roof into a pile of leaves is evidence of your foolishness. We can trace this word's origin back to fool and the Old French fol, "idiot," and also "blacksmith's bellows," from a root meaning "blow or swell."
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.
And what he sees, Page argues, is our own reflection — humanity, in all its fractured and flailing self-destructive foolishness.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2026
Mr. Clooney has never had a better role, and he burrows deeply into it with a self-interrogating combination of narcissism, foolishness, bravado and charisma.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025
“Under Paris” fares far better, turning the foolishness dial up so far it breaks.
From Salon • Jun. 8, 2025
It’s our responsibility, then, to rectify this foolishness and shed light on the ways in which Los Angeles influences fashion.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2024
His foolishness had cost him his freedom, and, as he told Shin, it would soon cost him his wife.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
