folly

• WordNet 3.6
  • n folly foolish or senseless behavior
  • n folly a stupid mistake
  • n folly the trait of acting stupidly or rashly
  • n folly the quality of being rash and foolish "trying to drive through a blizzard is the height of folly","adjusting to an insane society is total foolishness"
  • ***

• • Folly A foolish act; an inconsiderate or thoughtless procedure; weak or light-minded conduct; foolery. "What folly 'tis to hazard life for ill."
  • Folly Scandalous crime; sin; specifically, as applied to a woman, wantonness. "Achan] wrought folly in Israel.""When lovely woman stoops to folly ."
  • Folly The result of a foolish action or enterprise. "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."
  • Folly The state of being foolish; want of good sense; levity, weakness, or derangement of mind.
  • ***

• • n folly The character or conduct of a fool; the state of being foolish; weakness of judgment or character, or actions which spring from it; want of understanding; weak or light-minded conduct.
  • n folly Something regard for or attention to which is foolish.
  • n folly Specifically Conduct morally bad; wickedness; wantonness.
  • n folly A costly structure or other undertaking left unfinished for want of means, too expensive to be properly maintained, built in a very ill-chosen place, or the like; an enterprise that exhausts or ruins the projector.
  • n folly Synonyms Nonsense, foolishness, senselessness, ridiculousness, extravagance, indiscretion, imbecility. See list under absurdity.
  • folly To act with folly; act foolishly.
  • folly Foolish.
  • ***

• • n Folly fol′i silliness or weakness of mind: a foolish act: criminal weakness:
  • v.i Folly to act with folly
  • n Folly fol′i (B.) sin: a monument of folly, as a great structure left unfinished, having been begun without a reckoning of the cost
  • ***

• Elizabeth Gaskell

  

  “Sometimes one likes foolish people for their folly, better than wise people for their wisdom.”
• Francois De La Rochefoucauld

  

  “He who lives without folly isn't so wise as he thinks.”
• Bertrand Russell

  

  “Folly is perennial, yet the human race has survived.”
• William Shakespeare

  

  “He uses his folly like a stalking-horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit.”
• Lord Alfred Tennyson

  

  “The folly of all follies is to be love sick for a shadow.”
• Edward Gibbon

  

  “History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.”

In literature:

In poetry:

In news:

In science: