foolishness
/ˈfuːlɪʃnəs/noun
foolishness is spelled F-O-O-L-I-S-H-N-E-S-S: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, foolishness means “The state of being foolish” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of foolishness is foolishnesses.
How many letters and syllables are in foolishness?
| Letters | 11: F-O-O-L-I-S-H-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 26,776th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is foolishness?
Foolishness appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce foolishness?
- /ˈfuːlɪʃnəs/
Foolishness has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-foolishness.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of foolishness
- foolishnesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does foolishness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state of being foolish.
- 2
A thing or event that is foolish, or an absurdity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Foolishness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | folie, sottise, déraison , bêtise |
| German | Torheit, Dummheit, Tölpelhaftigkeit, Narrheit, Narrentum, Unverstand |
| Portuguese | tolice |
| Spanish | nescedad (disused), necedad , sandez, tontería |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does foolishness come from?
From Middle English folishnesse, follissnesse, equivalent to foolish + -ness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).