frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

andrew, farceur, joker, jokester, droll, Punch, Punchinello,
pierrot, harlequin: In Shakespeare's plays, the fool is often
the wisest character. 3 butt, dupe, gull, victim, cat's-paw,
Colloq chump, greenhorn, (easy) mark, US fall guy; Slang pigeon,
sucker, stooge, Brit mug: His co-workers liked to make a fool
out of him.
--v. 4 trick, deceive, take in, swindle, defraud, hoax, cheat,
fleece, cozen, hoodwink, bluff, dupe, gull, humbug, delude,
mislead, make a fool of; pull the wool over (someone's) eyes,
have (someone) on, pull (someone's) leg, tease, twit, Archaic
chouse; Colloq kid, con, snow, do a snow job on, bamboozle, put
one or something over on, pull something or a fast one on, Brit
twist, Chiefly US and Canadian josh; Slang pluck, Brit nobble:
When he said the diamond was fake, he certainly fooled me. I
think she was fooling when she said she'd inherited millions. 5
joke, jest, banter, tease, twit, feign, fake, pretend, make
believe, Colloq kid: She insists that she is not fooling but
dead serious. 6 fool with or around or about (with). play
(around or about) (with), toy or trifle (with), mess or fiddle
(around or about) (with), monkey (around or about) with, meddle
(with), tamper with, fribble (with): Please stop fooling with
the dials on the radio. 7 fool around or about. a play or mess
around or about, gambol, frolic, romp, cavort: Stop fooling
around and get serious. b waste or fritter away or squander or
kill time, fribble, loiter, dawdle, idle, Brit potter (about),
lark or muck about or around, US putter around or about, Colloq
footle: She's always fooling around instead of getting on with
her work.
foolhardy adj. rash, imprudent, impetuous, reckless, brash, venturesome,
bold, cheeky, daring, audacious, temerarious, adventurous,
daredevil, incautious, hotheaded, careless, heedless,
devil-may-care, hasty, thoughtless, unthinking, irresponsible,
wild, madcap, Colloq US and Canadian nervy, Slang gutsy: It is
foolhardy to go scuba diving without a companion.
foolish adj. 1 senseless, incautious, imprudent, impolitic, indiscreet,
unwise, injudicious, ill-considered, ill-advised, misguided,
short-sighted, impetuous, headlong, rash, brash, reckless,
hasty, heedless, unwary, foolhardy, thoughtless, mindless:
Standing under a tree in a thunderstorm is foolish. 2
nonsensical, stupid, asinine, inane, silly, fatuous, fatuitous,