Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
foolishness. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
foolishness, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
foolishness in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
foolishness you have here. The definition of the word
foolishness will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
foolishness, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English folishnesse, follissnesse, equivalent to foolish + -ness.
Pronunciation
Noun
foolishness (countable and uncountable, plural foolishnesses)
- (uncountable) The state of being foolish.
1900 June 14, E. E. Hasty, “The Afterthought: The ‘Old Reliable’ seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses”, in George W. York, editor, American Bee Journal, 40th year, number 24, Chicago, Ill., Robber-Bees and Balled Queens, page 374, column 1:On page 297 , that quotation from a foreign bee-paper, about the foolishness of thinking that robber-bees ball a queen, is probably all right in the main. Robbers are indeed there for honey—not for reginacide—but perchance no one interferes, and after awhile the honey is gone, and the hive is filled with a miscellaneous crowd largely new comers, who are like a city mob, “the more part know not wherefore they are come together.”
- (countable) A thing or event that is foolish, or an absurdity.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations
state of being foolish
- Armenian: հիմարություն (hy) (himarutʻyun)
- Bulgarian: глупост (bg) f (glupost), неразумност f (nerazumnost), неблагоразу́мие (bg) n (neblagorazúmie)
- Chichewa: utsiru
- Czech: pošetilost (cs) f
- Danish: tåbelighed (da) c
- Esperanto: malsaĝeco
- Finnish: typeryys (fi)
- French: folie (fr) f, sottise (fr) f, déraison (fr) f
- Galician: tolemia (gl) f, loucura (gl) f
- German: Torheit (de) f, Dummheit (de) f, Tölpelhaftigkeit (de) f, Narrheit (de) f, Narrentum n (rare), Unverstand (de) m
- Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐍆𐍂𐍉𐌳𐌴𐌹 f (unfrōdei)
- Greek:
- Ancient: ἀφροσύνη f (aphrosúnē), μωρία f (mōría)
- Irish: aineagna f, amadántacht f, amlógacht f, baothántacht f, leibideacht f
- Italian: malaccortezza (it) f, pazzia (it) f, sciocchezza (it), stupidità (it)
- Kabuverdianu: jatura
- Khmer: ល្បែ (lbae)
- Latin: fatuitās f, stultitia f
- Latvian: muļķība f, neprātība f, dumjība (lv)
- Macedonian: глу́пост f (glúpost), нера́зумност f (nerázumnost), будала́штина f (budaláština)
- Manx: meecheeall f, anchreeaght f
- Middle English: unwisdom
- Old English: unġesċēadwisnes f, unwīsdōm ?
- Polish: głupota (pl) f
- Portuguese: tolice (pt) f
- Russian: глу́пость (ru) f (glúpostʹ)
- Sardinian: (northern) macchìghine, macchìne, bambidudine, (southern) scimpròriu
- Scottish Gaelic: amaideas m
- Spanish: nescedad f (disused), necedad (es) f
- Swahili: upumbavu
- Ukrainian: безглуздість (uk) f (bezhluzdistʹ), нерозсудливість f (nerozsudlyvistʹ)
- Unami: kpëcheokàn
- Volapük: fop (vo)
- Yiddish: נאַרישקייט f (narishkeyt)
|
thing or event that is foolish