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fool
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As a noun, fool means a person with poor judgment or little intelligence. As a verb, it means trick.
Meanings of fool
15 meaningsnoun
pejorativeA person with poor judgment or little intelligence.
“You were a fool to cross that busy road without looking.”
“The village fool threw his own shoes down the well.”
literatureA stock character typified by unintelligence, naïveté or lucklessness, usually as a form of comic relief; often used as a source of insight or pathos for the audience, as such characters are generally less bound by social expectations.
informalSomeone who derives pleasure from something specified.
slangchiefly aaveBuddy, dude, man.
cookingA type of dessert made of puréed fruit and custard or cream.
“an apricot fool; a gooseberry fool”
tarotoften capitalized foolA particular card in a tarot deck, representing a jester.
A professional clown employed to entertain a king or nobleman in the Middle Agesperson
Similar: jester, motley fool
Older and rare meanings (1)
historicalA jester; a person whose role was to entertain a sovereign and the court (or lower personages).
verb
To trick; to deceive.
To act in an idiotic manner; to act foolishly.
Indulge in horseplay
“Enough horsing around — let's get back to work!”
“The bored children were fooling about”
Similar: horse around, arse around, fool around
Older and rare meanings (1)
archaicTo make a fool of; to make act the fool.
adjective
informalFoolish.
Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).