foolhardy

adjective

fool·har·dy ˈfül-ˌhär-dē

Synonyms of foolhardy next

: foolishly adventurous and bold : rash

a foolhardy explorer

foolhardy investors

foolhardily

ˈfül-ˌhär-dᵊl-ē

adverb

foolhardiness

ˈfül-ˌhär-dē-nəs

noun

Choose the Right Synonym for foolhardy

adventurous, venturesome, daring, daredevil, rash, reckless, foolhardy mean exposing oneself to danger more than required by good sense.

adventurous implies a willingness to accept risks but not necessarily imprudence.

adventurous pioneers

venturesome implies a jaunty eagerness for perilous undertakings.

venturesome stunt pilots

daring implies fearlessness in courting danger.

daring mountain climbers

daredevil stresses ostentation in daring.

daredevil motorcyclists

rash suggests imprudence and lack of forethought.

a rash decision

reckless implies heedlessness of probable consequences.

a reckless driver

foolhardy suggests a recklessness that is inconsistent with good sense.

the foolhardy sailor ventured into the storm

Examples of foolhardy in a Sentence

hikers who were foolhardy enough to remain on the summit during a thunderstorm it's foolhardy to go hiking during late fall without warm clothes

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

To ask the most American of movie stars to play this iconic English figure was foolhardy, and his down-to-earth authenticity gets him nowhere in the role. —

Will Leitch, Vulture, 1 July 2024 Overshadowing the endorsement was a foolhardy rhetorical flourish that insulted key voting blocs courted by the Republican nominee in his campaign against the Democratic nominee, New York Governor Grover Cleveland. —

Robert B. Mitchell / Made By History, TIME, 24 Oct. 2024 An empathy gap is obvious in online commenters who suggest, for example, that flood victims earned their fate through the foolhardy choice to live near water, that earthquake victims shouldn’t have lived near fault lines, and so on. —

Hazlitt, 23 Oct. 2024 And if even one state’s bioweapons program experimented with extinction-level pathogens—perhaps on a foolhardy quest to develop the ultimate deterrent—the next laboratory accident could precipitate a global pandemic much worse than that of COVID-19. —

William MacAskill, Foreign Affairs, 11 Aug. 2022 See all Example Sentences for foolhardy