DictionaryAI

folly

SayFOL-ee/ˈfɑli/UK/ˈfɒli/

Pluralfollies

4 meanings of folly

Practice

  1. 1
    nouncountable or uncountable
    Lack of good sense or foresight, or a foolish act or idea, especially one with harmful results.

    It would be folly to set out across the desert without extra water.

    He looked back on the follies of his twenties with a mix of embarrassment and amusement.

    UsageOften it would be folly to + verb; the plural names particular acts: the follies of youth.

    Similarfoolishness, madness, stupidity, lunacy, idiocy

    Oppositewisdom, sense, prudence

  2. 2
    fancy buildingnouncountable or uncountable
    A fanciful building put up purely as an ornament rather than for any practical use.

    The estate's gardens include a mock-Gothic folly built to look like a ruined chapel.

    Walkers climb the ridge to see the folly, a tower that was never meant to be lived in.

    Note

    A folly is built chiefly to catch the eye: towers, temples, pyramids and sham ruins put up on great estates, especially in Britain, to be looked at more than used. The fashion for ruin follies went furthest, with new buildings made to look crumbling from the start. The word also stretches to any eccentric showpiece, such as a luncheonette built in the shape of a coffee cup.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Follies are primarily ornamental or conspicuous buildings, but they can have practical functions; complete uselessness is not a requirement. follies.org.uk
    • Estate follies include towers, temples, pyramids and sham ruins. en.wikipedia.org
    • Follies were especially associated with British estates and were built chiefly for visual effect. artsandculture.google.com
    • Sham ruins were deliberately constructed to look ruined from the outset. follies.org.uk

Less common meanings

  1. 3
    noundialectal
    A clump of trees, especially one on the crest of a hill or, less often, on open ground.
  2. 4
    verbdialectal
    To follow: to go after someone or something, or to keep to a path or line.
    "Anybody got the makin's?" he said. "That's one hell of a thick bunch of canvas, but I follied the seam."
    2002, Richard Kilroy O'Malley, Hobo: A Depression Odyssey

Practice

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Origin

From Old French folie (“madness”), from the adjective fol (“mad, insane”).

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

  • Folly derives from Old French folie, meaning “madness”. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old French folie derives from the adjective fol, meaning “mad, insane”. en.wiktionary.org