Word.ws English Dictionary

fools' errands

fools' errands is the plural of fool's errand.

Meaning of fool's errand

Noun

fool's errand (plural fools' errands)

  1. (idiomatic) A foolish undertaking, especially one that is purposeless, fruitless, nonsensical, or certain to fail.
    • If I were to travel only that I might be discontented with that which I can get at home, methinks I should go but on a fool's errand.1821, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 1, in Kenilworth
  2. (idiomatic) Such an undertaking, assigned as a prank.
    • Meronyms: blinker fluid, key to the midway, left-handed monkey wrench, muffler bearing, skyhook

Questions about fools' errands

What is fools' errands the plural of?
Fools' errands is the plural of fool's errand.

Words near fools' errands in the dictionary

  1. fools rush in
  2. fools rush in where angels fear to tread
  3. fools to themselves
  4. fools up
  5. fools with
  6. fools' errands
  7. fools' paradises
  8. foolscap
  9. foolscaps
  10. foolscreen
  11. foolship

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fools' errands (page history and authors); fool's errand (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “fools' errands.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fools%27_errands. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.