foil
14
5.8
- noun
- /fɔɪl/
- Literature
:
contrapunto
- For Augustine, the city of man is only a foil for the construction of the City of God.
- serve as a foil
- become a foil
- provide a foil
She was there to serve as a foil for Lenny, a danger to Lenny.
- She was there to serve as a foil for Lenny, a danger to Lenny.
- In other words, she provides a foil to Trump.
- Now in the movies there were, but she had become their foil.
- And now we're finding that there's there's more going on, but the Oracle is still being used kind of as a foil.
- But I did think it was a very telling dynamic how as soon as I no longer was Trump's foil, they were like, wow, wow.
Examples
-
A no-treatment control group would be an ideal foil to the problems encountered in this study.
Academic text (2004) -
Yet his muddled behavior serves as a foil to the duplicity of Cinna's motives.
Academic text (1990) -
In other words, she provides a foil to Trump.
-
Nor does she seem to be a foil for any other female characters in the story.
Academic text (1998) -
And yet the two books are foils to one another in one significant respect.
Academic text (2017) -
Hobbes was in many ways, a perfect foil for Machiavelli.
-
Kennedy and Lawrence are therefore useful foils for one another, each illuminating the other's reasoning and practical implications.
Academic text (2010) -
The Second Empire, with its perceived decadence and irresponsibility, became the foil against which to rebuild the "true France."
Academic text (2003) -
Likewise, Mary's femaleness serves as the foil to the idol's maleness.
Academic text (2005) -
In the story, the clever villain serves as a foil to the heroic protagonist, highlighting his bravery.
Synonyms
A person or thing that is the direct opposite of another
Compounds
How Contrasting
Surface Forms
Etymology
Foil meaning 'a person or thing that contrasts with another' can be remembered like this: a shiny foil put behind a jewel makes the jewel stand out, so a foil is someone who makes another person's qualities clearer by contrast.