# fool

> English word · Noun · IPA /fuːl/ · frequency rank #4,378

## Definitions
1. A person with poor judgment or little intelligence.
2. A jester; a person whose role was to entertain a sovereign and the court (or lower personages).
3. A 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.
4. Someone who has been made a fool of or tricked; dupe.
5. Someone who derives pleasure from something specified.
6. An informal greeting akin to buddy, dude, or man.
7. A particular card in a tarot deck, representing a jester.
8. A tankie.

## Etymology
From Middle English fole (“fool”), from Old French fol (cf. modern French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis. Doublet of fals and follis. Displaced native Old English dwæs.

## Easily confused with
- **for** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-for)
- **fox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-fox)
- **fro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-fro)
- **foy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-foy)
- **FTL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-ftl)
- **fou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-fou)
- **from** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-from)
- **full** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-full)
- **four** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-four)
- **form** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-form)
- **foot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-foot)
- **fuel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-fuel)
- **ford** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-ford)
- **fort** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-fort)
- **foul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-foul)
- **fork** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-fork)
- **frog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-frog)
- **fowl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-fowl)
- **foxy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-foxy)
- **Foxx** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fool-vs-foxx)

## Common misspellings (5)
`ffool`, `fol`, `folo`, `fooll`, `ofol`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fool