Folly

Folly
Folly Fol"ly, n.; pl. {Follies}. [OE. folie, foli, F. folie, fr. fol, fou, foolish, mad. See {Fool}.] 1. The state of being foolish; want of good sense; levity, weakness, or derangement of mind. [1913 Webster]

2. A foolish act; an inconsiderate or thoughtless procedure; weak or light-minded conduct; foolery. [1913 Webster]

What folly 'tis to hazard life for ill. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

3. Scandalous crime; sin; specifically, as applied to a woman, wantonness. [1913 Webster]

[Achan] wrought folly in Israel. --Josh. vii. 15. [1913 Webster]

When lovely woman stoops to folly. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]

4. The result of a foolish action or enterprise. [1913 Webster]

It is called this man's or that man's ``folly,'' and name of the foolish builder is thus kept alive for long after years. --Trench. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Folly — ist der Name von Anne Laure Folly Filmemacherin Geografisches Folly Island Inseln Folly Beach Stadt in den USA Le Folly Berg in Frankreich Filmtitel Dead Man s Folly Mit Folly wird auch eine Gartenstaffage bezeichnet, siehe Folly (Gartenkunst) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • folly — (n.) early 13c., mental weakness; unwise conduct (in M.E. including wickedness, lwedness, madness), from O.Fr. folie (12c.) folly, madness, stupidity, from fol (see FOOL (Cf. fool)). Sense of costly structure considered to have shown folly in the …   Etymology dictionary

  • folly — index abortion (fiasco), inexpedience, lunacy Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • folly — [n] nonsense, ridiculous idea absurdity, craziness, daftness, dottiness, dumb thing to do*, dumb trick*, fatuity, foolishness, idiocy, imbecility, impracticality, imprudence, inadvisability, inanity, indiscretion, irrationality, lunacy, madness,… …   New thesaurus

  • folly — ► NOUN (pl. follies) 1) foolishness. 2) a foolish act or idea. 3) an ornamental building with no practical purpose, especially a tower or mock Gothic ruin. ORIGIN Old French folie madness …   English terms dictionary

  • folly — [fäl′ē] n. pl. follies [ME folie < OFr < fol: see FOOL1] 1. a lack of understanding, sense, or rational conduct; foolishness 2. any foolish action or belief 3. any foolish and useless but expensive undertaking 4 …   English World dictionary

  • Folly — In architecture, a folly is a building constructed strictly as a decoration, having none of the usual purposes of housing or sheltering associated with a conventional structure. They originated as decorative accents in parks and estates. Folly is …   Wikipedia

  • folly — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ pure, sheer ▪ ultimate ▪ youthful ▪ human ▪ economic, political …   Collocations dictionary

  • folly — UK [ˈfɒlɪ] / US [ˈfɑlɪ] noun Word forms folly : singular folly plural follies 1) [countable/uncountable] formal a way of thinking or behaving that is stupid and careless, and likely to have bad results The judge described the incident as an act… …   English dictionary

  • folly — fol|ly [ fali ] noun 1. ) count or uncount a way of thinking or behaving that is stupid and careless, and likely to have bad results: The judge described the incident as an act of folly. it is folly to do something: It is absolute folly to go… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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