befool

American

[bih-fool] / bɪˈful /

verb (used with object)

to fool; deceive; dupe.

Synonyms:

cheat, mislead, delude, bamboozle, swindle
Obsolete. to treat as a fool; call (someone) a fool.

befool British

/ bɪˈfuːl /

verb

(tr) to make a fool of

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of befool

First recorded in 1350–1400, befool is from the Middle English word befolen. See be-, fool ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The action concerns the usual city fellers who atempt to befool the honest but apparently boobish guardian of the two girl orphans and their fortune.

From Time Magazine Archive

Or was he a very clever scoundrel, with irony lurking in his soft voice, and a chuckle that he could so befool me?

From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March 1930 by Bates, Harry

His own credit was at stake as well; no one must suppose that they could befool him.

From The Heritage of the Kurts, Volume II (of 2) by Bj?rnson, Bj?rnstjerne

You and your friends may be extremely clever—you have succeeded in enticing my wife away from her home, and you expect to befool me further.

From Hushed Up! A Mystery of London by Le Queux, William

It is not in truth very difficult to befool a man who does half the fooling himself.

From Parson Kelly by Lang, Andrew

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023