Definitions for folly
ˈfɒl ifol·ly

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. folly, foolishness, unwisenessnoun

   the trait of acting stupidly or rashly

2. stupidity, betise, folly, foolishness, imbecilitynoun

   a stupid mistake

3. 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"

4. folly, foolery, tomfoolery, craziness, lunacy, indulgencenoun

   foolish or senseless behavior

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. follynoun

   Foolishness.

   This is a war of folly.

2. follynoun

   Thoughtless action resulting in tragic consequence.

   The purchase of Alaska from Russia was termed Seward's folly.

3. 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.

4. Etymology: From folie, from the adjective fol.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Follynoun

   Etymology: folie, French.

   1. Want of understanding; weakness of intellect.2. Criminal weakness; depravity of mind.

   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.

   3. Act of negligence or passion unbecoming gravity or deep wisdom. In this sense it has a plural.

   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.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Follynoun

   the state of being foolish; want of good sense; levity, weakness, or derangement of mind

2. Follynoun

   a foolish act; an inconsiderate or thoughtless procedure; weak or light-minded conduct; foolery

3. Follynoun

   scandalous crime; sin; specifically, as applied to a woman, wantonness

4. Follynoun

   the result of a foolish action or enterprise

5. Etymology: [OE. folie, foli, F. folie, fr. fol, fou, foolish, mad. See Fool.]

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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 ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. folly

   Song lyrics by folly -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by folly on the Lyrics.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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.

Matched Categories

1. • Mistake
   • Play
   • Stupidity
   • Trait

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'folly' in Nouns Frequency: #2859

How to pronounce folly?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say folly in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of folly in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of folly in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of folly in a Sentence

1. Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller:

   Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yieldAgainst stupidity the very godsThemselves contend in vain. Exalted reason, Resplendent daughter of the head divine,Wise founders of the system of the world,Guide of the stars, who are thou then, if thou,Bound to the tail of folly's uncurb'd steed,Must, vainly shrieking, with the drunken crowd,Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss.

2. Herbert Spencer:

   The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.

3. Akhenaton:

   True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not he knoweth all things but his own ignorance.

4. Leo C. Rosten:

   In the dark colony of night, when I consider man's magnificent capacity for malice, madness, folly, envy, rage, and destructiveness, and I wonder whether we shall not end up as breakfast for newts and polyps, I seem to hear the muffled cries of all the words in all the books with covers closed.

5. Mette Ljosland:

   Were it not Folly, Spider-like to spin The Thread of present Life away to win - What? for ourselves, who know not if we shall Breathe out the very Breath we now breathe in.

Popularity rank by frequency of use