What does folly mean?
Definitions for folly
ˈfɒl ifol·ly
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word folly.
Princeton's WordNet
folly, foolishness, unwisenessnoun
the trait of acting stupidly or rashly
stupidity, betise, folly, foolishness, imbecilitynoun
a stupid mistake
folly, foolishness, craziness, madnessnoun
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, foolery, tomfoolery, craziness, lunacy, indulgencenoun
foolish or senseless behavior
Wiktionary
follynoun
Foolishness.
This is a war of folly.
follynoun
Thoughtless action resulting in tragic consequence.
The purchase of Alaska from Russia was termed Seward's folly.
follynoun
A fanciful building built for purely ornamental reasons.
A luncheonette in the shape of a coffee cup is particularly conspicuous, as is intended of an architectural duck or folly.
Etymology: From folie, from the adjective fol.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Follynoun
Etymology: folie, French.
Think’st thou, that duty shall have dread to speak,
When pow’r to flattery bows? To plainness honour
Is bound, when majesty to folly falls. William Shakespeare, King Lear.Love is blind, and lovers cannot see
The pretty follies that themselves commit;
For if they could, Cupid himself would blush
To see me thus transformed to a boy. William Shakespeare.Leave such to trifle with more grace and ease,
Whom folly pleases, or whose follies please. Alexander Pope, Horace.
Wikipedia
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-century English landscape gardening and French landscape gardening often featured mock Roman temples, symbolising classical virtues. Other 18th-century garden follies represented Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, ruined medieval castles or abbeys, or Tatar tents, to represent different continents or historical eras. Sometimes they represented rustic villages, mills, and cottages to symbolise rural virtues. Many follies, particularly during times of famine, such as the Great Famine in Ireland, were built as a form of poor relief, to provide employment for peasants and unemployed artisans. In English, the term began as "a popular name for any costly structure considered to have shown folly in the builder", the Oxford English Dictionary's definition, and were often named after the individual who commissioned or designed the project. The connotations of silliness or madness in this definition is in accord with the general meaning of the French word foliecode: fra promoted to code: fr ; however, another older meaning of this word is "delight" or "favourite abode". This sense included conventional, practical buildings that were thought unduly large or expensive, such as Beckford's Folly, an extremely expensive early Gothic Revival country house that collapsed under the weight of its tower in 1825, 12 years after completion. As a general term, "folly" is usually applied to a small building that appears to have no practical purpose or the purpose of which appears less important than its striking and unusual design, but the term is ultimately subjective, so a precise definition is not possible.
ChatGPT
folly
Folly can be defined as a lack of good sense or judgement, resulting in a foolish or reckless action or decision. It refers to behavior or ideas that are irrational, imprudent, or characterized by a lack of wisdom. Folly often involves a disregard for consequences or a failure to consider the practicality or logic of one's actions.
Webster Dictionary
Follynoun
the state of being foolish; want of good sense; levity, weakness, or derangement of mind
Follynoun
a foolish act; an inconsiderate or thoughtless procedure; weak or light-minded conduct; foolery
Follynoun
scandalous crime; sin; specifically, as applied to a woman, wantonness
Follynoun
the result of a foolish action or enterprise
Etymology: [OE. folie, foli, F. folie, fr. fol, fou, foolish, mad. See Fool.]
Wikidata
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs. In the original use of the word, these buildings had no other use, but from the 19th to 20th centuries the term was also applied to highly decorative buildings which had secondary practical functions such as housing, sheltering or business use. 18th century English gardens and French landscape gardening often featured Roman temples, which symbolized classical virtues or ideals. Other 18th century garden follies represented Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, ruined abbeys, or Tatar tents, to represent different continents or historical eras. Sometimes they represented rustic villages, mills and cottages, to symbolize rural virtues. Many follies, particularly during famine, such as the Irish potato famine, were built as a form of poor relief, to provide employment for peasants and unemployed artisans.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Folly
fol′i, n. silliness or weakness of mind: a foolish act: criminal weakness: (B.) sin: a monument of folly, as a great structure left unfinished, having been begun without a reckoning of the cost.—v.i. to act with folly. [O. Fr. folie—fol, foolish.]
Suggested Resources
folly
Song lyrics by folly -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by folly on the Lyrics.com website.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
FOLLY
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Folly is ranked #121590 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Folly surname appeared 142 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Folly.
58.4% or 83 total occurrences were Black.
32.3% or 46 total occurrences were White.
5.6% or 8 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
British National Corpus
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'folly' in Nouns Frequency: #2859
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
- [["1520","2"],["1524","1"],["1527","1"],["1563","4"],["1568","2"],["1579","16"],["1581","9"],["1582","1"],["1584","2"],["1587","9"],["1588","14"],["1590","20"],["1592","10"],["1593","2"],["1598","5"],["1603","9"],["1607","9"],["1614","1"],["1620","15"],["1621","1"],["1624","1"],["1626","2"],["1629","2"],["1634","6"],["1635","8"],["1637","4"],["1638","6"],["1640","4"],["1641","1"],["1642","1"],["1643","7"],["1644","13"],["1645","6"],["1646","5"],["1647","1"],["1648","16"],["1649","10"],["1650","10"],["1651","13"],["1652","3"],["1653","12"],["1654","1"],["1655","19"],["1656","41"],["1657","3"],["1658","40"],["1659","49"],["1660","3"],["1661","4"],["1662","6"],["1663","9"],["1664","4"],["1665","5"],["1666","4"],["1667","44"],["1668","37"],["1669","11"],["1670","6"],["1671","11"],["1672","13"],["1673","40"],["1674","2"],["1675","29"],["1676","53"],["1677","61"],["1678","28"],["1679","28"],["1680","29"],["1681","52"],["1682","66"],["1683","76"],["1684","81"],["1685","93"],["1686","19"],["1687","15"],["1688","33"],["1689","39"],["1690","12"],["1692","12"],["1693","28"],["1694","22"],["1695","29"],["1696","18"],["1697","5"],["1698","68"],["1699","71"],["1700","75"],["1701","86"],["1702","37"],["1703","40"],["1704","110"],["1705","43"],["1706","69"],["1707","145"],["1708","43"],["1709","54"],["1710","54"],["1711","24"],["1712","139"],["1713","69"],["1714","87"],["1715","17"],["1716","215"],["1717","203"],["1718","19"],["1719","44"],["1720","271"],["1721","126"],["1722","313"],["1723","117"],["1724","50"],["1725","43"],["1726","67"],["1727","78"],["1728","141"],["1729","136"],["1730","187"],["1731","55"],["1732","211"],["1733","116"],["1734","183"],["1735","100"],["1736","112"],["1737","122"],["1738","125"],["1739","84"],["1740","52"],["1741","87"],["1742","152"],["1743","152"],["1744","264"],["1745","169"],["1746","48"],["1747","168"],["1748","215"],["1749","218"],["1750","388"],["1751","499"],["1752","429"],["1753","599"],["1754","718"],["1755","591"],["1756","283"],["1757","334"],["1758","369"],["1759","474"],["1760","394"],["1761","512"],["1762","248"],["1763","646"],["1764","458"],["1765","533"],["1766","767"],["1767","829"],["1768","894"],["1769","533"],["1770","706"],["1771","593"],["1772","731"],["1773","555"],["1774","961"],["1775","855"],["1776","932"],["1777","893"],["1778","643"],["1779","689"],["1780","663"],["1781","766"],["1782","899"],["1783","785"],["1784","928"],["1785","818"],["1786","894"],["1787","2038"],["1788","1378"],["1789","1180"],["1790","1620"],["1791","1683"],["1792","2356"],["1793","1918"],["1794","2177"],["1795","1954"],["1796","2094"],["1797","1670"],["1798","1623"],["1799","1892"],["1800","2406"],["1801","4979"],["1802","3590"],["1803","3797"],["1804","3944"],["1805","4010"],["1806","5627"],["1807","4307"],["1808","5182"],["1809","5702"],["1810","6013"],["1811","7616"],["1812","6018"],["1813","4853"],["1814","5281"],["1815","5695"],["1816","6827"],["1817","6263"],["1818","6744"],["1819","5731"],["1820","9778"],["1821","6278"],["1822","10969"],["1823","11217"],["1824","12616"],["1825","13679"],["1826","8464"],["1827","7868"],["1828","8956"],["1829","7801"],["1830","12381"],["1831","9212"],["1832","10476"],["1833","9809"],["1834","9005"],["1835","10369"],["1836","10311"],["1837","9692"],["1838","8455"],["1839","12284"],["1840","11488"],["1841","10018"],["1842","8894"],["1843","9574"],["1844","11228"],["1845","11785"],["1846","12440"],["1847","10537"],["1848","11157"],["1849","11325"],["1850","13891"],["1851","12724"],["1852","13985"],["1853","15239"],["1854","16421"],["1855","14250"],["1856","15411"],["1857","12759"],["1858","12558"],["1859","13382"],["1860","14349"],["1861","10072"],["1862","9022"],["1863","9491"],["1864","10591"],["1865","10814"],["1866","11420"],["1867","10377"],["1868","10824"],["1869","10447"],["1870","10503"],["1871","12528"],["1872","11172"],["1873","11098"],["1874","12300"],["1875","13062"],["1876","12953"],["1877","12948"],["1878","11506"],["1879","11210"],["1880","14602"],["1881","13736"],["1882","14969"],["1883","17817"],["1884","14646"],["1885","14549"],["1886","12412"],["1887","14991"],["1888","13945"],["1889","12103"],["1890","13046"],["1891","14407"],["1892","15309"],["1893","15198"],["1894","14679"],["1895","14476"],["1896","16982"],["1897","15493"],["1898","17991"],["1899","21885"],["1900","22970"],["1901","22047"],["1902","21712"],["1903","20591"],["1904","21226"],["1905","18936"],["1906","20512"],["1907","19093"],["1908","20820"],["1909","16978"],["1910","18366"],["1911","17237"],["1912","17361"],["1913","16800"],["1914","15194"],["1915","13061"],["1916","13036"],["1917","12614"],["1918","10879"],["1919","13032"],["1920","15021"],["1921","12836"],["1922","14412"],["1923","13985"],["1924","13115"],["1925","13801"],["1926","12019"],["1927","14848"],["1928","13036"],["1929","12330"],["1930","13774"],["1931","12095"],["1932","11704"],["1933","8613"],["1934","12055"],["1935","11541"],["1936","10778"],["1937","10335"],["1938","11537"],["1939","9833"],["1940","8976"],["1941","7836"],["1942","7100"],["1943","6166"],["1944","6216"],["1945","6711"],["1946","10014"],["1947","10484"],["1948","11132"],["1949","11756"],["1950","12594"],["1951","11562"],["1952","12000"],["1953","10843"],["1954","11646"],["1955","11983"],["1956","12444"],["1957","13375"],["1958","13099"],["1959","13484"],["1960","15736"],["1961","17500"],["1962","19402"],["1963","21489"],["1964","18576"],["1965","21907"],["1966","22080"],["1967","23525"],["1968","26763"],["1969","27212"],["1970","27928"],["1971","24463"],["1972","24672"],["1973","20910"],["1974","20794"],["1975","19474"],["1976","18339"],["1977","19669"],["1978","18841"],["1979","17913"],["1980","17826"],["1981","17745"],["1982","19265"],["1983","19038"],["1984","19766"],["1985","18911"],["1986","22086"],["1987","22113"],["1988","21648"],["1989","22681"],["1990","24582"],["1991","23736"],["1992","25058"],["1993","24689"],["1994","25444"],["1995","27316"],["1996","29429"],["1997","27969"],["1998","28947"],["1999","31494"],["2000","36327"],["2001","36655"],["2002","36533"],["2003","47620"],["2004","64603"],["2005","51918"],["2006","70654"],["2007","87473"],["2008","192070"]]
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of folly in Chaldean Numerology is: 4
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of folly in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Examples of folly in a Sentence
To hate a man because he was born in another country, because he speaks a different language, or because he takes a different view of this subject or that, is a great folly. Desist, I implore you, for we are all equally human...Let us have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity.
Anger without power is folly.
Remember that the Tarot is a great and sacred arcanum - its abuse is an obscenity in the inner and a folly in the outer. It is intended for quite other purposes than to determine when the tall dark man will meet the fair rich widow.
At times, the truest wisdom appears as folly, for in the seeming chaos of the mind's expression, deeper truths are revealed
Want and sorrow are the gifts which folly earns for itself.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for folly
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- حماقةArabic
- безразсъдство, глупостBulgarian
- Narrheit, TorheitGerman
- malsaĝecoEsperanto
- locuraSpanish
- hölmöily, hullutus, hömpötys, mielettömyys, typeryys, hulluusFinnish
- sottise, folieFrench
- amaideachd, amaideasScottish Gaelic
- butaság, könnyelműség, ostobaságHungarian
- edificio decorativo, follia, unicum, stravaganza, eccentricitàItalian
- איוולתHebrew
- 愚行Japanese
- neprātība, neprātīgumsLatvian
- głupotaPolish
- bobeiraPortuguese
- глупый поступок, глупость, дурь, безрассудство, блажь, безрассудный поступок, недомыслие, прихотьRussian
- dårskap, dåraktighetSwedish
- முட்டாள்தனமானதுTamil
- మూర్ఖత్వంTelugu
- ความเขลาThai
- ngu xuẩnVietnamese
- 蠢事Chinese
Get even more translations for folly »
Translation
Find a translation for the folly definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"folly." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Oct. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/folly>.
Discuss these folly definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In