folly

fol·ly  (fl)

n. pl. fol·lies

1. A lack of good sense, understanding, or foresight.

2.

a. An act or instance of foolishness: regretted the follies of his youth.

b. A costly undertaking having an absurd or ruinous outcome.

3. follies (used with a sing. or pl. verb) An elaborate theatrical revue consisting of music, dance, and skits.

4. Obsolete

a. Perilously or criminally foolish action.

b. Evil; wickedness.

c. Lewdness; lasciviousness.

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[Middle English folie, from Old French, from fol, foolish, from Late Latin follis, windbag, fool; see fool.]

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folly [ˈfɒlɪ]

n pl -lies

1. the state or quality of being foolish; stupidity; rashness

2. a foolish action, mistake, idea, etc.

3. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Architecture) a building in the form of a castle, temple, etc., built to satisfy a fancy or conceit, often of an eccentric kind

4. (Performing Arts / Theatre) (plural) Theatre an elaborately costumed revue

5. Archaic

a.  evil; wickedness

b.  lewdness; wantonness

[from Old French folie madness, from fou mad; see fool¹]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	folly - the trait of acting stupidly or rashly foolishness, unwiseness trait - a distinguishing feature of your personal nature indiscretion, injudiciousness - the trait of being injudicious fatuity, fatuousness, silliness, absurdity - a ludicrous folly; "the crowd laughed at the absurdity of the clown's behavior" asininity - the quality of being asinine; stupidity combined with stubbornness wisdom, wiseness - the trait of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight
	2.	folly - a stupid mistake                     betise, imbecility, stupidity, foolishness error, fault, mistake - a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention; "he made a bad mistake"; "she was quick to point out my errors"; "I could understand his English in spite of his grammatical faults"
	3.	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" craziness, foolishness, madness stupidity - a poor ability to understand or to profit from experience
	4.	folly - foolish or senseless behavior         foolery, tomfoolery, lunacy, craziness, indulgence frolic, gambol, romp, caper, play - gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement; "it was all done in play"; "their frolic in the surf threatened to become ugly" meshugaas, mishegaas, mishegoss - (Yiddish) craziness; senseless behavior or activity buffoonery, clowning, harlequinade, japery, prank, frivolity - acting like a clown or buffoon

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folly

noun foolishness, bêtise (rare), nonsense, madness, stupidity, absurdity, indiscretion, lunacy, recklessness, silliness, idiocy, irrationality, imprudence, rashness, imbecility, fatuity, preposterousness, daftness (informal), desipience a reminder of the follies of war
reason, sense, judgment, wisdom, sanity, rationality, moderation, prudence, level-headedness

Quotations
"As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly" Bible: Proverbs

Translations

folly [ˈfɒlɪ] N

1. (= foolishness, act of folly) → locura f
it would be folly to do it → sería una locura hacerlo

2. (Archit) → disparate m

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folly [ˈfɒli] n

(= madness) → folie f

(= building) → folie f

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folly

n (= foolishness, foolish thing) → Torheit f, → Verrücktheit f; (= building) exzentrischer, meist völlig nutzloser Prachtbau; it is sheer folly (to do that) → es ist der reinste Wahnsinn(, das zu tun)

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folly [ˈfɒlɪ] n → follia, pazzia

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folly [ˈfɒlɪ] n → follia, pazzia

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folly

n folly [ˈfoli]

foolishness the follies of youth. dwaasheid; stommiteit حَماقَه безрасъдност pošetilost, hloupost galskab die Torheit τρέλα locura narrus حماقت hulluus folie טִיפּשׁוּת मूर्खता gluposti, ludosti butaság ketololan kjánaskapur, heimska follia 愚かさ 어리석음 kvailystė muļķība; neprāts kebodohan dwaasheid idioti, tåpelighet, galskap szaleństwo loucura nebunie безрассудство bláznovstvo norost ludilo dårskap, tokeri ความเขลา aptallık 愚蠢 дивацтво بے وقوفی hành động ngu xuẩn 愚蠢