foolery

noun

fool·​ery ˈfü-lə-rē How to pronounce foolery (audio)
ˈfül-rē
plural fooleries
1
: a foolish act, utterance, or belief
2
: foolish behavior

Examples of foolery in a Sentence

an amusing bit of foolery investing in that company now would be foolery
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Eric Andre, Tyler the Creator and Machine Gun Kelly all drop by to participate in the Jack-foolery. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 2 Feb. 2022 The whole of humanity doesn’t fit tidily into three acts, even assuming as much frame-breaking foolery as Wilder allows. New York Times, 25 Apr. 2022 Political pranking is traditionally thought of as benign foolery targeting the powerful. Stanislav Budnitsky, The Conversation, 19 Apr. 2022 Our magpie eyes will always be drawn to foolery and ephemera. Giles Hattersley, Vogue, 13 Dec. 2021 Once every ten years, the first of April assumes a far more significant importance than the annual sharing of April foolery. James Deutsch, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Apr. 2020 All the organs of his body were working — bowels digesting food, skin renewing itself, nails growing, tissues forming — all toiling away in solemn foolery. John Hirschauer, National Review, 17 Sep. 2019 This single photograph simultaneously invokes the histories of racial violence and racial degradation, cruelly dismissing their gravity by casting them in the guise of comedy and youthful foolery. Drew Gilpin Faust, The Atlantic, 18 July 2019 The conceit allowed for some fancy dancing, along with a display of the talents of the musical director, Gregory Boover, who also portrayed Feste as a jazz musician, giving weight to his character’s foolery. Edward Rothstein, WSJ, 11 July 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1562, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of foolery was in 1562

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Foolery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foolery. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

Kids Definition

foolery

noun
fool·​ery ˈfül-(ə-)rē How to pronounce foolery (audio)
plural fooleries
1
: a foolish act : horseplay
2
: foolish behavior
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