Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use foolishly in a sentence

16 example sentences · adverb

Foolishly means in a foolish manner. Example: “He dressed foolishly to entertain the children.”

Examples of foolishly by meaning

adverbIn a foolish manner.

  • He dressed foolishly to entertain the children.
  • What, is it daylight?’ he said, staring foolishly about. ‘No, it’s starlight, blokey,’ Snowy said, patting him on the head.1911, ‘Steel Rudd’, The Book of Dan, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, published 1970, page 26

adverbWithout good judgment.

  • Foolishly, he had decided that, because a home was the best investment, two homes were even better.
  • Bush plans to pour more arms into this unstable region and add fuel to the volatile powderkeg he has foolishly created.2007 August 1, “Unwise Arms Deal With Saudi Arabia (2 Letters)”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022

More sentences with foolishly

  • I foolishly assumed more people knew what a boymoder was when writing the brief for Leeroy's wardrobe.2026 June 21, @gooseworx.bsky.social [Gooseworx], Bluesky (post), archived from the original on 21 Jun 2026. From the entry boymoder
  • Foolishly some men declined this assistance, although more often than not the officer was unskilled in advocacy.1990, Julian Putkowski, Julian Sykes, Shot at Dawn. From the entry prisoner's friend
  • Lucky wondered as he stood if there was anything worse than some foolishly romantic, feather headed old maid?2010, Barri Bryan, Bridget's Secret. From the entry feather-headed
  • In terms of tonal errors, another common mishap is the maudlin sobfest—an essay that's foolishly and tearfully sentimental.2008, Alan Gelb, Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps: Crafting a Winning Personal Statement, Ten Speed Press, →ISBN, page 68. From the entry sobfest
  • Murdoch's bid to get his hands on The Journal may seem foolishly pricey, but he's got his reasons.2007 May 14, Tom Lowry et al., “Crazy Like A Fox”, in Businessweek, retrieved 18 Jul 2011. From the entry crazy like a fox
  • What would you do if you had millions of dollars just lying around, waiting to be foolishly spent?2006, Don Mangus, James L. Halperin, edited by Gary Dowell, Heritage Signature Auction #819: The MAD Auction Catalog, page 70. From the entry kazillionaire
  • Foolishly, I went to the National Right dinner last night.2005, Mark Latham, The Latham Diaries, page 141. From the entry narky
  • When we foolishly minimize the internal of our lives and maximize the external, we sign the warrant for our own day of doom.1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., “The World House”, in Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →OCLC…. From the entry misguided
  • The disowned of all parties, the rejected and foolishly bedrifted hither and thither, to what corner of Nature can he now drift with advantage?1909, Thomas Carlyle, Hilaire Belloc, The French revolution: a history. From the entry bedrift
  • I say again, if I cannot draw a horse, I will not write this is a horse under what I foolishly meant for one.1902, Laurence Housman, “[Appendix: What is a Fairy Tale?] ‘Introduction’ to Gammer Grethel’s Fairy Tales”, in Michael Newton, editor…. From the entry leave someone out in the cold
  • If the players are acting foolishly, such as charging into a dangerous situation without a plan or without taking any precautions, let the dice fall where they may.1994, “Running Adventures”, in Mean Streets, West End Games, →ISBN, page 53. From the entry let the dice fall where they may
  • Or is it just the top of our pinnacle, the point at which we reveal our sphexish streak and flounder about foolishly in the face of higher thought?1984, Daniel C[lement] Dennett, “Making Reason Practical”, in Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting (A Bradford Book)…. From the entry sphexish

Meaning of foolishly

  1. adverb In a foolish manner.
  2. adverb Without good judgment.

Full definition of foolishly

Questions about foolishly in a sentence

How do you use foolishly in a sentence?
Foolishly is used as an adverb. For example: “He dressed foolishly to entertain the children.”
What is a short sentence with foolishly?
“He dressed foolishly to entertain the children.”
What does foolishly mean?
Foolishly means in a foolish manner.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: foolishly (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use foolishly in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/foolishly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.