Library / English Dictionary

FOOLISHNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A stupid mistake

Synonyms:

betise; folly; foolishness; imbecility; stupidity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("foolishness" is a kind of...):

error; fault; mistake (a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The trait of acting stupidly or rashly

Synonyms:

folly; foolishness; unwiseness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("foolishness" is a kind of...):

trait (a distinguishing feature of your personal nature)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foolishness"):

indiscretion; injudiciousness (the trait of being injudicious)

absurdity; fatuity; fatuousness; silliness (a ludicrous folly)

asininity (the quality of being asinine; stupidity combined with stubbornness)

Derivation:

foolish (having or revealing stupidity)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The quality of being rash and foolish

Example:

adjusting to an insane society is total foolishness

Synonyms:

craziness; folly; foolishness; madness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("foolishness" is a kind of...):

stupidity (a poor ability to understand or to profit from experience)

Derivation:

foolish (devoid of good sense or judgment)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Does the white man like tobacco? I do not know. But if he likes tobacco, why does he spit out its value and lose it in the snow? It is a great foolishness and without understanding.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)