damn fool
2
7.8
- adjective
- /dæm fuːl/
- Offensive
:
idiota
- I told you it was a damn fool idea to let that man bring that stuff in here.
- damn fool idea
Examples
-
Damn fool, you may have cooked our brains!
-
He made a damn fool mistake by betting all his savings on that game.
-
"Well, get out of the way while I open this damn fool door."
Fiction book (1995) -
It isn't safe to risk it, which any damn fool would know if?
Fiction book (1990) -
Damn fool.
-
No way of telling, he thought, and though he was reassured by the groaning and the sharp answering crack of the ice expanding in the cold and thickening beneath him, still he knew this was a damn fool thing he was doing, for there were springs in this water running all year long.
Fiction book (1995) -
It was a damn fool decision to ignore the warning signs.
-
Don't be a damn fool; just follow the safety instructions.
Synonyms
505
1.3
Not showing good sense and making unwise choices
115
4.4
Very silly and showing bad judgment
16
7.4
Taking dangerous risks without thinking about what will happen
Antonyms
How Foolish
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward combination of 'damn' as an intensifier and 'fool' as a person who acts unwisely, so the overall meaning 'a very foolish person' is directly derivable from the constituents. This intensifier + noun pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows normal compositional rules (aside from the colloquial/vulgar register of 'damn'), making it comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Damn fool comes from joining damn (a strong word that once meant 'to condemn') and fool (a silly person). The image is of someone so bad they deserve blame, so the phrase means 'extremely foolish'.