Basic Details
Word: Foolishness
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Behaviour that shows a lack of good sense or judgement.
Synonyms: silliness, stupidity, folly, nonsense
Antonyms: wisdom, good sense, prudence
How to Spell Foolishness
Syllables: fool - ish - ness
Tricky part: The word is three blocks, fool + ish + ness, and each keeps all its letters: double o at the start, double s at the end.
Watch out for: foolishnes, foolisness, fullishness
Memory tip: Build it from three blocks you already know - fool, ish, ness - and do not change a single letter of any of them.
Usage Examples
Example 1: It was pure foolishness to swim in the river during the monsoon flood.
Example 2: Grandma laughed at the foolishness of the monkey that stole an empty lunch box.
Example 3: He later admitted the foolishness of leaving his phone on the bus seat.
Fun Fact
Fool comes through Old French from Latin follis, a pair of bellows or a bag of air. People may have used it for someone who seemed full of nothing but wind.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Only one of these words takes the suffix -ness to make a real noun. Choose it:
-ness
a) anger
b) music
c) courage
d) foolish
Show answer
d) foolish. The suffix ness turns an adjective into a noun, and foolish is the only adjective in the group.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The headmaster said that climbing the water tank for a selfie was sheer foolishnes, and he called the parents of all three boys.
a) headmaster
b) parents
c) climbing
d) foolishnes
Show answer
d) foolishnes. The suffix ness always finishes with a double s.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word foolishness as used in the sentence:
Everyone laughed at the foolishness of his plan to cross the desert with one bottle of water.
a) silliness
b) madness
c) nonsense
d) wisdom
Show answer
d) wisdom. A foolish plan lacks good sense; wisdom is having plenty of it.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which word is closest in meaning to foolishness?
a) fury
b) fortune
c) favour
d) folly
Show answer
d) folly
2. Which of these is an example of foolishness?
a) saving money for a new cycle
b) revising before a test
c) touching an iron to see if it is hot
d) wearing a helmet on a scooter
Show answer
c) touching an iron to see if it is hot
