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Prank vs Fool - What's the difference?

prank | fool |

As nouns the difference between prank and fool

is that prank is an evil deed; a malicious trick, an act of cruel deception while fool is a person with poor judgment or little intelligence.

As verbs the difference between prank and fool

is that prank is to adorn in a showy manner; to dress or equip ostentatiously while fool is to trick; to make a fool of someone.

As an adjective prank

is full of gambols or tricks.

prank

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) An evil deed; a malicious trick, an act of cruel deception.
  • *, II.4.2.ii:
  • Hercules, after all his mad pranks upon his wife and children, was perfectly cured by a purge of hellebor, which an Antieyrian administered unto him.
  • A practical joke or mischievous trick.
  • * Shakespeare
  • His pranks have been too broad to bear with.
  • * Sir Walter Raleigh
  • The harpies played their accustomed pranks .
    Pranks may be funny, but remember that some people are aggressive.
    He pulled a gruesome prank on his sister.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * prankish * pranksome * prankster

    Verb

  • To adorn in a showy manner; to dress or equip ostentatiously.
  • * Spenser
  • In sumptuous tire she joyed herself to prank .
  • * 1748 , , B:II
  • And there a Sea?on atween June and May,
    Half prankt with Spring, with Summer half imbrown'd,
    A li?tle?s Climate made, where, Sooth to ?ay,
    No living Wight could work, ne cared even for Play.
  • * 1880 , For Spring, by Sandro Botticelli , lines 2–3
  • ''Flora, wanton-eyed
    ''For birth, and with all flowrets prankt and pied:
  • To make ostentatious show.
  • * M. Arnold
  • White houses prank where once were huts.
  • To perform a practical joke on; to trick.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2007, date=May 13, author=Karen Crouse, title=Still Invitation Only, but Jets Widen Door for Camp, work=New York Times citation
  • , passage=“If someone’s pranking me,” Rowlands remembered thinking, “they’re going to great lengths to make it work.” }}
  • (slang) To call someone's phone and promptly hang up
  • Hey man, prank me when you wanna get picked up.
    I don't have your number in my phone, can you prank me?

    Synonyms

    (call and promptly hang up) missed call, missed-call

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Full of gambols or tricks.
  • (Webster 1913) English transitive verbs

    fool

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (pejorative) A person with poor judgment or little intelligence.
  • You were a fool to cross that busy road without looking.
    The village fool threw his own shoes down the well.
  • * Franklin
  • Experience keeps a dear school, but fools' will learn in no ' other .
  • (historical) A jester; a person whose role was to entertain a sovereign and the court (or lower personages).
  • (informal) Someone who derives pleasure from something specified.
  • * Milton
  • Can they think me their fool or jester?
  • * 1975 , , "Fool for the City" (song), Fool for the City (album):
  • I'm a fool for the city.
  • (cooking) A type of dessert made of d fruit and custard or cream.
  • an apricot fool'''; a gooseberry '''fool
  • A particular card in a tarot deck.
  • Synonyms

    * (person with poor judgment) See also * (person who entertained a sovereign) jester, joker * (person who talks a lot of nonsense) gobshite

    Verb

  • To trick; to make a fool of someone.
  • To play the fool; to trifle; to toy; to spend time in idle sport or mirth.
  • * Dryden
  • Is this a time for fooling ?

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * befool * fool about * fool around * foolhardy * foolish * foolishness * foolometer * fool's errand * fool's gold * fool's paradise * foolproof * more fool you * play the fool * suffer fools gladly * there's no fool like an old fool

    References

    1000 English basic words ----