folly

Plural: follies

Noun

• A lack of good sense; a foolish act or idea.
• the trait of acting stupidly or rashly
• a stupid mistake
• the quality of being rash and foolish
  • "trying to drive through a blizzard is the height of folly"
• foolish or senseless behavior
• Foolishness that results from a lack of foresight or lack of practicality.
• Thoughtless action resulting in tragic consequence.
• A fanciful building built for purely ornamental reasons.
• A clump of trees, particularly one on the crest of a hill (or sometimes on a stretch of open ground).

Verb

• To follow.

Examples

• A luncheonette in the shape of a coffee cup is particularly conspicuous, as is intended of an architectural duck or folly.
• It would be folly to walk all that way, knowing the shops are probably shut by now.
• The purchase of Alaska from Russia was termed Seward's folly.
• Thinking you can win Scrabble without learning two-letter words is pure FOLLY.

Synonyms

betise, craziness, foolery, foolishness, imbecility, indulgence, lunacy, madness, stupidity, tomfoolery, unwiseness

Antonyms

wisdom

Related Words

fool, foolery, foolish