folly
/ˈfɑli/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.34 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Foolishness that results from a lack of foresight or lack of practicality.
Countable; Uncountable
verb
To follow.
noun
A clump of trees, particularly one on the crest of a hill (or sometimes on a stretch of open ground).
Example Sentences
- "It would be folly to walk all that way, knowing the shops are probably shut by now."
- "With the voices singing in our ears, saying That this was all folly."
- "The purchase of Alaska from Russia was termed Seward's folly."
- "'[…] The treachery, or the folly, of my cousin's maid betrayed us. I was banished to the house of a relation far distant, and she was allowed no liberty, no society, no amusement, till my father's point was gained […]'"
- "Thames Water has become the latest object lesson in the predictable and predicted folly of privatised monopolies, aided by a regulator that’s an even bigger wet wipe than the fatbergs bunging up the sewers."
- "A luncheonette in the shape of a coffee cup is particularly conspicuous, as is intended of an architectural duck or folly."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɑli/
- British English: /ˈfɒli/