word-vault/dist/data/cards/fo/fool.json

A lightweight JavaScript package for English word definitions and collections.

{
    "term": "fool",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "a person who you think behaves or speaks in a way that lacks intelligence or good judgement",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Don't be such a fool!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I **felt a fool** when I realized my mistake."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He told me he was an actor and I **was fool enough to** believe him."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Like a fool, I told her everything."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Stop behaving like a fool!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "That fool of a doctor has prescribed me the wrong medicine!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "They had left me looking like a fool."
                },
                {
                    "text": "You silly fool!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "You're an even bigger fool than I thought."
                },
                {
                    "text": "You must take me for a fool!"
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "idiot",
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["big", "great", "silly"],
                "verb + fool": ["feel", "feel like", "look"],
                "preposition": ["like a fool", "fool of a something"],
                "phrases": ["act the fool", "play the fool", "be no fool"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "(in the past) a man employed by a king or queen to entertain people by telling jokes, singing songs, etc.",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "court fools who used to provide entertainment in the royal court"
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "jester"
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "a cold light dessert (= a sweet dish) made from fruit that is cooked to make it soft and mixed with cream or custard",
            "labels": "(British English)",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "rhubarb fool"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Food"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to behave in a stupid way in order to make people laugh, especially in a way that may also annoy them",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Quit playing the fool and get some work done!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Stop acting the fool and be serious!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He thought that being an actor only involved tap dancing and playing the fool."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "used to say that something is very easy to do",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Any fool could tell she was lying."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be too intelligent or know too much about something to be tricked by other people",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She's nobody's fool when it comes to dealing with difficult patients."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She's nobody's fool. She had the car checked by a mechanic before buying it."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "a person who is not sensible usually spends money too quickly or carelessly, or is cheated by others",
            "labels": "(saying)",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "people with little experience try to do the difficult or dangerous things that more experienced people would not consider doing",
            "labels": "(saying)",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to say or do something deliberately so that people will think that somebody is stupid",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Can't you see she's making a fool of you?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I will not be made a fool of like this."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She was angry at having been made a fool of."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to do something stupid that makes other people think that you are a fool",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I made a complete fool of myself in front of everyone!"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "used to say that you think that somebody was stupid to do something, especially when it causes them problems",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "‘Someone's bumped my car!’ ‘More fool you for parking it there.’"
                },
                {
                    "text": "‘I know I shouldn’t have given him the money, but I did.’ ‘More fool you!’"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I thought it was safe to leave my suitcase there. More fool me."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "an older person who behaves in a stupid way is worse than a younger person who does the same thing, because experience should have taught him or her not to do it",
            "labels": "(saying)",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be very impatient with people that you think are stupid",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She was a forceful personality who didn't suffer fools gladly."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/fuːl/",
                "audio": "fo/fool/fool__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/fuːl/",
                "audio": "fo/fool/fool__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "noun senses 1 to 2 Middle English: from Old French fol ‘fool, foolish’, from Latin follis ‘bellows, windbag’, by extension ‘empty-headed person’. noun sense 3 late 16th cent.: perhaps from fool ‘foolish’."
}