befool

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /bɪˈful/ UK /bɪˈfuːl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to deceive or make a fool of someone

The swindler befooled even the most cautious investors.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to deceive or make a fool... deceive dupe trick fool delude hoodwink gull

Opposites

enlighten undeceive

Word family

Derived forms befooledbefooling

Related forms fool

Etymology

From the intensive prefix be- + fool. Fool comes from Old French fol ('madman, jester'), from Latin follis ('bellows, windbag', hence 'empty-headed person').

be- Old English follis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# befool

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /bɪˈful/
**IPA (UK):** /bɪˈfuːl/

## Meanings
1. to deceive or make a fool of someone

## Examples
- The swindler befooled even the most cautious investors.

## Synonyms
- deceive
- dupe
- trick
- fool
- delude
- hoodwink
- gull

## Antonyms
- enlighten
- undeceive

## Derived Forms
- befooled
- befooling

## Related Forms
- fool

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: be-
- Root: follis

## Etymology
From the intensive prefix be- + fool. Fool comes from Old French fol ('madman, jester'), from Latin follis ('bellows, windbag', hence 'empty-headed person').

## AI Etymology
befool comes from the intensive prefix be- + fool. Fool comes from Old French fol ('madman, jester'), from Latin follis ('bellows, windbag', hence 'empty-headed person'). Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the verb sense is "to deceive or make a fool of someone", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as fool and derivatives such as befooled, befooling, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Old English be-, Latin follis, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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