foolhardy en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
- (General-American) audio
- /ˈfuːlhɑːdi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈfulˌhɑɹdi/ (General-American)
Etymology
From Middle English folehardy, foolhardi, folherdi, from Old French fol hardi (“foolishly bold”), from Old French fol (“foolish, silly; insane, mad”) (from Latin follis (“bellows; purse, sack; inflated ball; belly, paunch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell”)) + Old French hardi (“durable, hardy, tough”) (past tense of hardir (“to harden”), from the unattested Frankish *hartjan, from Proto-Germanic *harduz (“hard; brave”)), equivalent to fool + hardy. Compare fool-bold, fool-large, etc.
Meanings
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Marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger; boldly rash; hotheaded.
It is a reckless, foolhardy leap into the unknown and the prelude, perhaps, to what the existentialist writer Albert Camus described in La chute – a fall from grace, in every conceivable sense.
2017 March 26, “The Observer view on triggering article 50: As Britain hurtles towards the precipice, truth and democracy are in short supply”, in The Observer, London, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2017:The master's pulse stood still, and he stared helplessly. The buzz of study ceased. The pupils wondered if this fool-hardy boy had lost his mind.
1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VI, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 68:In the middle distance several foolhardy souls in wet suits were surfing toward some foamy outbursts on the rocky headland; nearer in, a scattering of paddlers was being continually and, it seemed, happily engulfed by explosive waves.
2000, Bill Bryson, chapter 1, in In a Sunburned Country, 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Books, →ISBN, page 14:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more foolhardy | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| foolhardiest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| fool-hardy | alternative | lexicographic | |
| foolhardier | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most foolhardy | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
foolhardice · foolhardily · foolhardiness · foolhardihood
Synonyms
reckless · daring · rash · foolish · bold · irresponsible
Translations (39)
tr çılgınca (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · nl roekeloos (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · ota دلی (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · grc φιλοκίνδυνος (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · no dumdristig (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · de töricht (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · nl doldriest (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · mi pokerenoa (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · grc ῥιψοκίνδυνος (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · de ungestüm (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · bg безразсъдно смел (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · fr tête brûlée (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · it avventato (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · it dissennato (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · mi rorohuri (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · de hitzköpfig (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · it imprudente (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · eo temerara (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · tr delidolu (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · vo lukünik (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · de tollkühn (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · de dummdreist (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · fi tyhmänrohkea (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · hu vakmerő (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · gl temerario (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · fi hullunrohkea (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · ru безрассу́дно хра́брый (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · id nekat (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · es temerario (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · sv dumdristig (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · pl wariacki (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · pl ryzykowny (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · it spericolato (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · fi huimapäinen (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · de waghalsig (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · de verwegen (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · de vermessen (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · ru необду́манно сме́лый (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger) · ru бесшабашный (marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger)