Dictionary

April fool en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Meanings

1. A person subjected to a practical joke on April Fools' Day.
   • APRIL FOOL, Any one imposed on, or sent on a bootless errand on the first of April, on which day it is the custom among the lower people, children, and servants, by dropping empty papers carefully doubled up, sending persons on absurd messages, and such like contrivances, to impose on every one they can, and then to salute them with the title of April-fool. 1785, Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue,, page 4:
2. A practical joke played on April Fools' Day.
   • The best April fool ever perpetrated was 1 April 1698 and made a laughing stock of the gentry of London, great numbers of whom turned up in their carriages and finery at the Tower of London to 'see the lions being washed' as instructed on their gilt-edged invitation cards. 2012, Benedict le Vay, Ben Le Vay's Eccentric Britain, page 14:

Forms

Coordinates

May gosling

Deriveds

April-fool · April Fooler · April fooler · April-fooling · April Fools' Day

Synonyms

gowk

Translations (40)

nl aprilgrap (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · gl inocentada (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · it pesce d'aprile (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · he אחד באפריל (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · ga amadán Aibreáin (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · br pesk-Ebrel (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · nb aprilsnarr (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · da aprilsnar (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · nl aprilvis (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · sv aprilskämt (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · pt peixe de abril (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · pl prank primaaprilisowy (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · pt primeiro de abril (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · eo aprila ŝerco (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · nn aprilnarr (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · uk прі́ма апрі́ліс (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · tr bir nisan şakası (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · nn aprilspøk (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · ar كِذْبَةُ أَبْرِيل (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · nl aprilvis (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · gmw-cfr Apprėllßjëk (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · fr poisson d'avril (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · cy Ffwl Ebrill (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · io Aprilatrapito (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · fi aprillinarri (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · gl inocente (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · nn aprilnarr (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · lb Abrëllsgeck (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · io Aprilatrapo (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · nn aprilspøk (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · de Aprilscherz (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · fi aprillipila (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · nb aprilsnarr (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · nb aprilspøk (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · es inocentada (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · ru первоапре́льская шу́тка (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · el πρωταπριλιά (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · nb aprilspøk (person subjected to a practical joke April Fools' Day) · nl 1 aprilgrap (practical joke played on April Fools' Day) · ja エイプリルフール (practical joke played on April Fools' Day)