1
as in insanity
a foolish act or idea
the American purchase of Alaska was originally considered a grand folly
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in madness
lack of good sense or judgment
in all my folly, I didn't think about how my actions would hurt my father
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in nonsense
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
enough of this folly about moving to the Australian outback
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of folly
The restorative nature of Brighton & Hove Albion’s late comeback win against West Ham highlighted the influence of Lewis Dunk and the folly of writing off the club’s long-serving captain.
—
Andy Naylor, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
The ascendance of performative politics represents perhaps the starkest example of the folly described in Kerr's framework.
—Nate Bennett, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
Its pervasive humor flows from an intimate observation of human folly.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Mar. 2025
These can be reduced with agreements to give credit for taxes paid in earlier steps, but still is the height of folly.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 23 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for folly
Andy Naylor, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
The ascendance of performative politics represents perhaps the starkest example of the folly described in Kerr's framework.
—Nate Bennett, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
Its pervasive humor flows from an intimate observation of human folly.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Mar. 2025
These can be reduced with agreements to give credit for taxes paid in earlier steps, but still is the height of folly.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 23 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for folly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for folly
Noun
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Dominguez has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity in the stabbing deaths of David Breaux, 50, and Karim Abou Najm, 20, at Davis’ Central and Sycamore parks; and the wounding of Kimberlee Guillory, then 64, in her tent in the city’s downtown.—
Darrell Smith,
Sacbee.com,
24 May 2025
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And in the insanity of general religion, why not a dolphin Jesus?—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
15 May 2025
Noun
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Android And The Desktop Experience Unsurprisingly, Google’s I/O developer conference leaned heavily into the future of AI (Casey Newton has a good summary of the magic and the madness coming up).—
Ewan Spence,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
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Beneath that dizzying madness, McQuarrie introduced a progressively more labyrinthine mythology, knitting the installments together in ways plausible and not, and expanding Hunt from impressive spy to a more elemental force.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
23 May 2025
Noun
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This nonsense all tracks back to a May 9 visit Baraka, McIver and other members of Congress made to a New Jersey immigration detention center.—
Chris Brennan,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
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Stellar Blade was one of my favorite games of last year, a stellar (ha) action adventure title that did not deserve the culture war nonsense that surrounded it.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2025
Noun
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Delving deep into sublime absurdity, Elster transmuted Bowie into a broad range of peculiar characters.—
Natasha Gural,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2025
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Mara opted to stay in her lane as a dramatic star to ground the absurdity of the film, including the antics between Robinson and Paul Rudd onscreen.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
19 May 2025
Noun
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Listen to this article MIAMI — The Miami Heat’s approach to free agency last summer was simplicity, that Jimmy Butler would return hungry for an extension, the core would meet Pat Riley’s mandate of elevated attendance, Jaime Jaquez Jr. would make sophomore strides.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
30 May 2025
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Bronwen Sciortino, author & simplicity expert teaching easy ways to tailor-make healthy, happy & highly successful lives.—
Bronwen Sciortino,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
Noun
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This time, the technique is turned upon classic alien invasion movies of the Golden Age with liberal helpings of pure human stupidity as a seemingly peaceful first contact moment goes awry and gets bloody, leading to a solar system-ending flatulent finish.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
17 May 2025
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Tiny terror is unleashed in this mini alien apocalypse as directors Robert Bisi and Andy Lyon pay loving tribute to classic sci-fi stories of alien invasion and human stupidity using tilt-shift techniques that make the end of the world look almost cute.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
24 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Mindless as tariffs are, the foolishness of tariff imposition is magnified when the individual behind the implementation demands that prices not reflect the initial error.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2025
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From physical fights to is-he-or-isn’t-he paternity test foolishness and now revenge p-rn, the storylines can get out of control.—
Victoria Uwumarogie,
Essence,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Use it to find and retrieve stray nuts or bolts in any crevice.—
Nora Colomer,
FOXNews.com,
30 Mar. 2025
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Vegetables like broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, kale and asparagus are also included in most low-carb diets—as are eggs, cheese, Greek yogurt and nuts like walnuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts and pistachios.—
Daryl Austin,
USA Today,
29 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Folly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/folly. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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