FOOLS Synonyms: 306 Similar and Opposite Words

fools 1 of 2

noun

plural of fool

as in lunatics

a person who lacks good sense or judgment only a fool would attempt to climb that mountain unprepared

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as in clowns

a person formerly kept in a royal or noble household to amuse with jests and pranks a king's fool could get away with saying things that others in the palace couldn't

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as in suckers

a person with a strong and habitual liking for something I'm a fool for ice cream

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as in maniacs

a person having or showing a severely disordered or abnormal state of mind he got out of serving in the army by successfully pretending to be a fool

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fools

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of fool

as in tricks

to cause to believe what is untrue I fooled him into thinking that we were driving to the store, not to his surprise birthday party

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as in jokes

to make jokes an edgy comedian fooling with an appreciative college audience

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of fools

Noun

But Thomas and Erika are no fools, coolly telling off smiling Hitler sympathizers during a tony reception. — Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026 The Atlanta Dream might now be the hottest ticket in town and State Farm Arena would be fools not to host them in Game 6. — Don Riddell, CNN Money, 22 Oct. 2026 Predicting the state of broadcast TV in 2030 right now seems like a fools errand. — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026 In these labors, Carson is akin to two other recent laureates, Jon Fosse and László Krasznahorkai, our foremost writers of holy fools. — Merve Emre, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026 The Trasks encounter a wide swath of citizens, haggling with sneaky cheats, exploiting innocent fools, and befriending big-hearted neighbors. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 1 Oct. 2026 The retail army’s outlandish behavior and eccentric stock choices—which included bankrupt Hertz and Bed Bath & Beyond—led many on Wall Street to initially dismiss them as fools who would soon be gone. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 30 Sep. 2026 Judge Judy star Judith Sheindlin famously does not suffer fools. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 24 Sep. 2026 Like Rick Nelson’s fools, the Zellners also rush in where angels fear to tread, and their love for the bizarre, the cool and the crazy is, like the epidemic of emotions facing the Alpha Gang, wildly infectious. — Damon Wise, Deadline, 14 Sep. 2026

Verb

Sebastian Galeano fools the Lake Mary defense by carrying it himself and scampers 40 yards for the touchdown. — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026 Runway, Pika, and a dozen others can produce footage that fools the eye on first watch. — Sandy Carter, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026 What fools these non-OpenAI mortals must be. — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 15 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fools

Noun

The show will serve as a platform for countless lunatics within the InfoWars universe and a platform for larger announcements about the company’s fictional exploits.

— Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
Republicans see an opportunity here, portraying progressive and socialist Democrats as lunatics and communists.

— ABC News, ABC News, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of lunatics

Noun

Many Orlando-area homes feature skeletons that tower over the neighborhood, witchy covens, horror movie icons, clowns, pirate ships, pumpkins, zombies and vampires.

— Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
Friday, Edith, and the maintenance bots are sometimes goofy comic-relief clowns.

— Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of clowns

Noun

The theory seems to be that there will always be another crop of suckers willing to pump money into the ecosystem, so the market will provide.

— Joseph Kahn, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
More suckers may continue to appear for several years unless the stump is ground up or treated with tree stump killer.

— Luke Miller, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of suckers

Noun

David extended a hand toward me (imaginary attacks by slow, handshake-wielding maniacs are a martial arts class staple).

— Johanna Stein, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026
The odd thing about this choice is that, although the DSA’s platform is indeed chock-full of maniacal proposals, on this particular idea, the maniacs have a point.

— Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026

Definition of maniacs

Verb

While Bela is using the bathroom, Other Mommy approaches her and tricks her into agreeing that their family would be better if Frank wasn’t around.

— William Earl, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026
Twenty-one players, two tribes — there’s still tricks up host Jeff Probst’s sleeve.

— Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of tricks

Verb

These days, Corcoran jokes that her hardest decision is where to drink her morning coffee.

— David Foxley, Architectural Digest, 21 Oct. 2026
The Facebook post quickly took off on social media and had 1,700 comments and reactions within three hours, most of them jokes.

— Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of jokes

Noun

The smart kids, the shy ones, the jokers and the loners — every one of them is caught in the pyroclastic flow of adolescence, every minute a negotiation between fitting in and standing out.

— Jessica Kiang, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026
The jokers Toth and Jackson, bless them, keep things endearing and funny.

— Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2026