| Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition. 1995. |
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fool |
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| NOUN: | 1. A person who is easily deceived or victimized: butt3, dupe, gull, lamb, pushover, victim. Informal : sucker. Slang : fall guy, gudgeon, mark, monkey, patsy, pigeon, sap1. Chiefly British : mug. See WISE. 2. One deficient in judgment and good sense: ass, idiot, imbecile, jackass, mooncalf, moron, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, simple, simpleton, softhead, tomfool. Informal : dope, gander, goose. Slang : cretin, ding-dong, dip, goof, jerk, nerd, schmo, schmuck, turkey. See ABILITY. | | VERB: | 1. To cause to accept what is false, especially by trickery or misrepresentation: beguile, betray, bluff, cozen, deceive, delude, double-cross, dupe, hoodwink, humbug, mislead, take in, trick. Informal : bamboozle, have. Slang : four-flush. Idioms: lead astray, play false, pull the wool over someone's eyes, put something over on, take for a ride. See HONEST. 2. To move one's fingers or hands in a nervous or aimless fashion: fiddle, fidget, monkey, play, putter, tinker, toy, trifle, twiddle. See TOUCH. 3. To waste time by engaging in aimless activity: doodle, putter. Informal : fool around, mess around. See THRIVE. 4. To handle something idly, ignorantly, or destructively: fiddle, meddle, mess, tamper, tinker. Informal : monkey. See HELP, TOUCH.
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| Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition. Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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