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Although it has been said by men of more wit than wisdom, and perhaps more malice than either, that women are naturally incapable of acting prudently, or that they are necessarily determined to folly, I must by no means grant it.
Mary Astell

Meaning of "folly" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD FOLLY

From Old French folie madness, from fou mad.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF FOLLY

folly  [ˈfɒlɪ] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF FOLLY

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Folly is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES FOLLY MEAN IN ENGLISH?

folly

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.

Definition of folly in the English dictionary

The first definition of folly in the dictionary is the state or quality of being foolish; stupidity; rashness. Other definition of folly is a foolish action, mistake, idea, etc. Folly is also a building in the form of a castle, temple, etc, built to satisfy a fancy or conceit, often of an eccentric kind.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH FOLLY


Barbirolli
ˌbɑːbəˈrɒlɪ
brolly
ˈbrɒlɪ
collie
ˈkɒlɪ
colly
ˈkɒlɪ
dolly
ˈdɒlɪ
golly
ˈɡɒlɪ
half-volley
ˈhɑːfˌvɒlɪ
holly
ˈhɒlɪ
jolly
ˈdʒɒlɪ
lolly
ˈlɒlɪ
molly
ˈmɒlɪ
ollie
ˈɒlɪ
polly
ˈpɒlɪ
poly
ˈpɒlɪ
prolly
ˈprɒlɪ
tolley
ˈtɒlɪ
tollie
ˈtɒlɪ
tolly
ˈtɒlɪ
trolley
ˈtrɒlɪ
volley
ˈvɒlɪ

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE FOLLY

follow up
follow-my-leader
follow-on
follow-the-leader
follow-through
follow-up
follow-up call
follow-up care
follow-up interview
follow-up letter
follow-up study
follow-up telephone call
follow-up visit
followable
follower
followership
following
following wind
followship

WORDS THAT END LIKE FOLLY

allycholly
Barclay de Tolly
Connolly
coolly
corn dolly
do the lolly
drolly
ice lolly
knolly
loblolly
sea holly
skolly
trolley dolly
wholly
wild and woolly
wittolly
woolly

Synonyms and antonyms of folly in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «FOLLY»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «folly» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of folly

Translation of «folly» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF FOLLY

Find out the translation of folly to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of folly from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «folly» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

愚蠢的事
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

locura
570 millions of speakers

English

folly
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

मूर्खता
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

حماقة
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

глупость
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

loucura
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

মূর্খতা
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

inconscience
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Kebodohan
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Torheit
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

愚かさ
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

어리석은 짓
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Folly
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

dại dột
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

முட்டாள்தனமானது
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

मूर्खता
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

çılgınlık
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

follia
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

głupota
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

дурість
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

nebunie
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

τρέλα
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

dwaasheid
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

dårskap
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

dårskap
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of folly

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «FOLLY»

The term «folly» is quite widely used and occupies the 26.824 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Quite widely used
88
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «folly» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of folly
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «folly».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «FOLLY» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «folly» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «folly» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about folly

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «FOLLY»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word folly.
1
Alcaeus
To be bowed by grief is folly; Naught is gained by melancholy; Better than the pain of thinking, Is to steep the sense in drinking.
2
Isaac Asimov
Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.
3
Mary Astell
Although it has been said by men of more wit than wisdom, and perhaps more malice than either, that women are naturally incapable of acting prudently, or that they are necessarily determined to folly, I must by no means grant it.
4
Andrew Coyle Bradley
We might not object to the statement that Lear deserved to suffer for his folly, selfishness and tyranny; but to assert that he deserved to suffer what he did suffer is to do violence not merely to language but to any healthy moral sense.
5
John Bright
I. cannot stoop to reply to the folly and the slander of every poor Tory partisan who assails me, and I should not have noticed you but for the fact that you are a member of the House of Commons.
6
John Brough
You can do but one of these things; it is folly to attempt anything else, for there cannot exist a slave confederacy and a free confederacy side by side upon this continent.
7
Wilhelm Canaris
I only did my duty to my country when I tried to oppose the criminal folly of Hitler.
8
Cyril Connolly
Purity engenders Wisdom, Passion avarice, and Ignorance folly, infatuation and darkness.
9
Anna Julia Cooper
Each is under the most sacred obligation not to squander the material committed to him, not to sap his strength in folly and vice, and to see at the least that he delivers a product worthy the labor and cost which have been expended on him.
10
Richard Dawkins
Religion is capable of driving people to such dangerous folly that faith seems to me to qualify as a kind of mental illness.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «FOLLY»

Discover the use of folly in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to folly and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly
"A classic."--Nouriel Roubini "This is quite simply the best empirical investigation of financial crises ever published.
Carmen M. Reinhart, Kenneth Rogoff, 2011
2
Folly
An acclaimed master of suspense creates a heroine you will never forget in this superbly chilling novel of a woman who begins a desperate undertaking that may transform her life -- or end it.
Laurie R. King, 2009
3
The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam
. . I haven’t read a more relevant book in years.”—John Kenneth Galbraith, The Boston Sunday Globe “A superb chronicle . . . a masterly examination.”—Chicago Sun-Times From the Trade Paperback edition.
Barbara W. Tuchman, 2011
4
Jacob's Folly: A Novel
The hold of the past on the present, the power of private hopes and dreams, the collision of fate and free will: Miller’s world—which is our own, transfigured by her clear gaze and by her sharp, surprising wit—comes brilliantly to ...
Rebecca Miller, 2013
5
Profiles in Folly: History's Worst Decisions and why They ...
These are cautionary tales—albeit with exquisite twists ranging from acerbic to horrific.
Alan Axelrod, 2008
6
The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception ...
Explores the author's theorized evolutionary basis for self-deception, which he says is tied to group conflict, courtship, neurophysiology, and immunology, but can be negated by awareness of it and its results.
Robert Trivers, 2011
7
FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the ...
You’ll discover in alarming detail how FDR’s federal programs hurt America more than helped it, with effects we still feel today, including: • How Social Security actually increased unemployment • How higher taxes undermined good ...
Jim Powell, 2007
8
To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological ...
Technology, Evgeny Morozov proposes, can be a force for improvement—but only if we keep solutionism in check and learn to appreciate the imperfections of liberal democracy. Some of those imperfections are not accidental but by design.
Evgeny Morozov, 2013
9
Talley's Folly
Beneath the volley of barbs and loopy postures lies the same bedrock of wistfulness and exasperation that makes BEAUTY QUEEN so poignant.
Lanford Wilson, 1979
10
Sacred Folly: A New History of the Feast of Fools
The real history and meaning of the Feast of Fools—usually misunderstood as a sacrilegious festival.
Max Harris, 2011

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «FOLLY»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term folly is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Spacecraft soars beyond human folly - Columbia Daily Tribune …
We need a pick-me-up. Amid the vandalizing of Palmyra, the imminent extinction of the northern white rhino, the disarray threatening Europe's ... «Columbia Daily Tribune, Jul 15»
2
L.A. learned the folly of blunt response to crime - LA Times
L.A. learned the folly of blunt response to crime. LAPD battering ram vehicle. Los Angeles Times. A six-ton tank with a 14-foot steel battering ... «Los Angeles Times, Jul 15»
3
LA learned the folly of blunt response to crime
When Bernard C. Parks was named chief of the Los Angeles Police Department in 1997, he was asked whether it was fair to judge a chief's ... «Los Angeles Times, Jul 15»
4
Four shows: Stoneflower, Pocket Vinyl, Child of Folly, more - Gusto …
Four shows: Stoneflower, Pocket Vinyl, Child of Folly, more. Geno McManus will perform on Friday with his new band Stoneflower, the same ... «Buffalo.com, Jul 15»
5
Hit musical returns to Folly Farm this weekend
The ever popular smash hit musical That'll Be The Day, returns to Folly Farm for another Charity Challenge weekend tonight and Saturday (July ... «Western Telegraph, Jul 15»
6
Disneyland got off to a nightmare start in 1955, but 'Walt's Folly'
Disneyland's opening day, July 17, 1955, was a nightmare. Rides broke down. Restaurants ran out of food and drink, and a plumbers' strike ... «Los Angeles Times, Jul 15»
7
Youthful folly | The Economist
Youthful folly. Childhood conditions such as autism and ADHD are now widespread. Jul 11th 2015 | From the print edition. Timekeeper. Add this article to your ... «The Economist, Jul 15»
8
Gillian Welch stops at the Folly in August; get your tickets in today's …
The last album we heard from folk singer and songwriter Gillian Welch was 2011's The Harrow & The Harvest. That album came after an ... «Pitch Weekly, Jul 15»
9
'Penguin school' about to start at Folly Farm as five chicks learn key …
The first two penguin chicks at Folly Farm have fledged their nest and been taken into a special penguin nursery enclosure where they will ... «WalesOnline, Jul 15»
10
Folly history unearthed
A Folly volunteer, Dempse Burgess, began uncovering the cistern in 2012. It took him about a year to remove the thin layer of grass and dirt that ... «Suffolk News-Herald, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Folly [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/folly>. Apr 2024 ».
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