Synonyms for foolish
ˈfu lɪʃfool·ish

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:3.9 / 9 votes

1. foolishadjective

   Synonyms:
   unwise, brainless, indiscreet, ridiculous, idiotic, silly, imprudent

   Antonyms:
   bright, sane, intelligent, wise, quick-witted, smart

2. foolishadjective

   lacking good sense or judgement; unwise

   Synonyms:
   silly, imprudent, idiotic, unwise, ridiculous, indiscreet, brainless

   Antonyms:
   smart, intelligent, wise, sane, bright, quick-witted

3. foolishadjective

   Resembling or characteristic of a fool.

   Being foolish once in a while does not make one a foolish person.

   Synonyms:
   idiotic, brainless, silly, ridiculous, indiscreet, unwise, imprudent

   Antonyms:
   quick-witted, wise, bright, sane, smart, intelligent

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.7 / 3 votes

1. foolish

   That is absurd which is contrary to the first principles of reasoning; as, that a part should be greater than the whole is absurd. A paradoxical statement appears at first thought contradictory or absurd, while it may be really true. Anything is irrational when clearly contrary to sound reason, foolish when contrary to practical good sense, silly when petty and contemptible in its folly, erroneous when containing error that vitiates the result, unreasonable when there seems a perverse bias or an intent to go wrong. Monstrous and preposterous refer to what is overwhelmingly absurd; as, "O monstrous! eleven buckram men grown out of two," Shakespeare 1 King Henry IV, act ii, sc. 4. The ridiculous or the nonsensical is worthy only to be laughed at. The lunatic's claim to be a king is ridiculous; the Mother Goose rimes are nonsensical. Compare INCONGRUOUS.

   Synonyms:
   absurd, anomalous, chimerical, erroneous, false, ill-advised, ill-considered, ill-judged, inconclusive, incorrect, infatuated, irrational, ludicrous, mistaken, monstrous, nonsensical, paradoxical, preposterous, ridiculous, senseless, stupid, unreasonable, wild

   Antonyms:
   certain, consistent, demonstrable, demonstrated, established, incontestable, incontrovertible, indisputable, indubitable, infallible, logical, rational, reasonable, sagacious, sensible, sound, substantial, true, undeniable, unquestionable, wise

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. foolish

   Synonyms:
   senseless, idiotic, crazed, shallow, weak, silly, injudicious, irrational, absurd, contemptible, objectionable, witless, brainless, imbecile, preposterous, ridiculous, nonsensical, simple

   Antonyms:
   sensible, sane, deep, clearsighted, sound, sagacious, strongminded, wise, prudent, judicious, calculating, advisable, eligible

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. foolishadjective

   devoid of good sense or judgment

   "foolish remarks"; "a foolish decision"

   Synonyms:
   jerky, goosy, goosey, anserine, dopey, dopy, gooselike

   Antonyms:
   all-knowing, wise, sapient, sagacious, owlish, omniscient, perspicacious, sage, smart, sapiential

2. anserine, dopy, dopey, foolish, goosey, goosy, gooselike, jerkyadjective

   having or revealing stupidity

   "ridiculous anserine behavior"; "a dopey answer"; "a dopey kid"; "some fool idea about rewriting authors' books"

   Synonyms:
   jerking, choppy, anserine, dopy, dopey, goosy, goosey, jerky, arrhythmic, gooselike

   Antonyms:
   sapient, sage, wise, perspicacious, all-knowing, omniscient, smart, sagacious, owlish, sapiential

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. foolishadjective

   Synonyms:
   senseless, idiotic, silly, weak, DAFT, simple, irrational, insensate, shallow, brainless, witless, thick-skulled, buffle-headed, shallow-brained

2. foolishadjective

   Synonyms:
   unwise, unreasonable, absurd, ridiculous, nonsensical, ill-judged, preposterous, indiscreet, imprudent

3. foolishadjective

   Synonyms:
   idle, trivial, trifling, vain, childish, puerile, contemptible

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:3.0 / 2 votes

1. foolishadjective

   Synonyms:
   idiotic, senseless, irrational, silly, imbecile, witless, insensate, weak-minded, half-witted, brainless, fatuous, fatuitous, insagacious, unintelligent, indiscreet, imprudent, ridiculous, absurd, asinine, inept, nonsensical, puerile

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "foolish":

   stupid, silly, idiot, unwise, senseless, ridiculous, dumb, absurd, crazy, insane, madness, nonsensical, idiotic, dom, fool, mindless, unconscious, nonsense, unreasonable, imprudent

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How to use foolish in a sentence?

1. Greg Taxin:

   It’s probably silly or foolish that they just have n’t satisfied people’s desire to know how the chain of command is working, on the other hand, I presume the CEO of United Airlines goes on vacation on a regular basis, and he’s not around to answer question or make decision and things run just fine.

2. Adolph Hitler:

   The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed the subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty.

3. Wieland:

   It is an old observation that wise men grow usually wiser as they grow older, and fools more foolish.

4. James Russell Lowell:

   This imputation of inconsistency is one to which every sound politician and every honest thinker must sooner or later subject himself. The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinion.

5. Samuel Johnson:

   No man was more foolish when he had not a pen in his hand, nor more wise when he had.