Foolhardy
adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A person who is foolhardy.
"Resentful of the saddle-fast stranger, eight foolhardies return for more adventure."
- 1 Marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger; boldly rash; hotheaded.
"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."
- 1 marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences wordnet
Example
More examples"The young man is often foolhardy."
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.
Related phrases
More for "foolhardy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.