Foolish

Definition: Foolish

Foolish

Adjective

1. Devoid of good sense or judgment; "foolish remarks"; "a foolish decision".

2. (informal) having or revealing stupidity; "ridiculous anserine behavior"; "a dopey answer"; "a dopey kid"; "some fool idea about rewriting authors' books".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "foolish" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Multilingual Slang

Slang in 1811

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Foolish

Absurdity

Foolish; sophistical; unmeaning; without rhyme or reason; fantastic.

Caprice

Adjective: capricious; erratic, eccentric, fitful, hysterical; full of whims; Noun: maggoty; inconsistent, fanciful, fantastic, whimsical, crotchety, kinky, particular, humorsome, freakish, skittish, wanton, wayward; contrary; captious; arbitrary; unconformable; penny wise and pound foolish; fickle; (irresolute); frivolous, sleeveless, giddy, volatile.

Disrepute

Play second fiddle; lose caste; pale one's ineffectual fire; recede into the shade; fall from one's high estate; keep in the background; (modesty); be conscious of disgrace; (humility); look blue, look foolish, look like a fool; cut a poor figure, cut a sorry figure; laugh on the wrong side of the mouth; make a sorry face, go away with a flea in. one's ear, slink away.

Humility

Blush for, blush up to the eves; redden, change color; color up; hang one's head, look foolish, feel small.

Imbecility Folly

Foolish, silly, senseless, irrational, insensate, nonsensical, inept; maudlin.

Foolish, unwise, injudicious, improper, unreasonable, without reason, ridiculous, absurd, idiotic, silly, stupid, asinine; ill-imagined, ill-advised, ill-judged, ill-devised; mal entendu; inconsistent, irrational, unphilosophical; extravagant; (nonsensical); sleeveless, idle; pointless, useless; inexpedient; frivolous; (trivial).

Prodigality

Penny wise and pound foolish.

Reasoning,

Foolish; (imbecile); frivolous, pettifogging, quibbling; finespun, overrefined.

Unskillfulness

Unadvised; ill-advised, misadvised; ill-devised, ill-imagined, ill-judged, ill-contrived, ill-conducted; unguided, misguided; misconducted, foolish, wild; infelicitous; penny wise and pound foolish; (inconsistent).

Waste

Wasteful; (prodigal); penny wise and pound foolish.

Crosswords: Foolish

Who is the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him (Star Wars; writing credit: George Lucas)

Now, call me foolish, call me irresponsible, but it occurs to me that a 500 megaton bomb planted at just the proper point would, uh (Superman; writing credit: Jerry Siegel; Joe Shuster)

Foolish child (A Room with a View; writing credit: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. based on the novel by E.M. Forster.)

Don't do anything foolish. (The Dead Zone; writing credit: Aleksandar Djordjevic)

We haven't done anything foolish, have we (Batman; writing credit: Bob Kane; Lorenzo Semple Jr.)

Just a foolish beat of my heart (Foolish Beat; performing artist: Debbie Gibson)

These foolish games are tearing me (Foolish Games; performing artist: Jewel)

So let's put aside our foolish pride (When Somebody Loves You; performing artist: Alan Jackson)

Just how foolish you've been (How Much I Feel; performing artist: Ambrosia)

I feel so foolish, I never noticed ("Something to Talk About"; performing artist: Bonnie Raitt)

I was young and foolish then; now I am old and foolisher. (references; author: Mark Twain)

Silence is wise if we are foolish, but foolish if we are wise. (references; author: unknown)

The Foolish Duckling (1952)

My Foolish Heart (1949)

Pound Foolish (1940)

Foolish Follies (1929)

Pound Foolish (1926)

Foolish Games (performing artist: Jewel)

Foolish Little Girl (performing artist: The Shirelles)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Bewitchment: You Foolish Galatians (reference)

• Foolish Fire (reference)

• The Foolish Tortoise (reference)

  (more book examples)

Theater & Movies

• Foolish (reference)

• Foolish Wives (reference)

• Hot Boyz / Foolish (Special Edition) (reference)

• My Foolish Heart (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• Foolish [CD-SINGLE] (reference)

• My Foolish Heart (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Strong's dime caricatures. No. 2, Little Bo-Peep and her foolish sheep. Credit: Library of Congress.

Spring pastimes. On account of foolish prejudices of the neighbors, Long John is never seen ... Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

And indeed it was a foolish thing, as well as dishonest, to hoard up more than he could make use of. (Second Treatise of Government)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

It was foolish, it was wrong, to take so active a part in bringing any two people together

I felt I was getting foolish.

Unless people are more than commonly disagreeable, it is my foolish habit to contract a kindness for them

No young ambition was foolish enough to ripen in his shadow

So foolish sorrows bids your stones farewell

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

It also may help to write down your questions and the answers you receive, or bring a tape recorder to record what is said. No question about your care is foolish. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Foolish

Expressions using "foolish": foolish mistake ♦ foolish thing ♦ foolish woman ♦ look foolish ♦ make foolish ♦ penny wise and pound foolish. Additional references.

Beginning with "foolish": foolish-looking.

Ending with "foolish": be penny-wise and pound-foolish, cent-wise-dollar-foolish, f-foolish, murdo-foolish, pound-foolish.

Afrikaans

dom (addled, stupid). (various references)

Albanian

teveqel (dolt, dull, dummy, fool, imbecile, innocent, noodle, simpleton, zany, zombie), qesharak (absurd, buffo, comic, comical, derisive, farcical, funny, laughable, ludicrous, preposterous, ridiculous, risible), marrë (addled, stupid), i pamend (brainless, dizzy, dumb, inane, injudicious, mad, mindless, pinheaded, rattle-brained, rattle-headed). (various references)

Arabic 

‏مغفل (dense, dolt, dullard, dumb, dunce, dunderhead, dupe, fat-witted, fool, licentious, moronic, mutton-headed, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, numskull, pointless, rubbishy, silly, simple, simple minded, simpleton, soft-headed, softy, stupid, thick-headed, weak-minded), ‏مضحك (buffoon, burlesque, clown, comedian, comic, comical, comics, droll, farcical, funny, harlequin, humorous, jester, laughable, laughing, ludicrous, merry andrew, ridiculous, risible, silly, wag), ‏تافه (banal, commonplace, contemptible, crummy, fade, fiddling, flat, footling, fractional, frivolous, frothy, good for nothing, inane, inconsiderable, insignificant, junk, light, lilliputian, little, lowbrow, measly, minute, naught, negligible, niggling, nonsensical, nugatory, null, paltry, pedestrian, petty, piddling, pimping, piteous, pitiable, platitudinous, pointless, puny, ridiculous, run of the mill, silly, slight, slim, small time, smelly, stupid, trifle, trifling, trite, trivial, trumpery, two a penny, two bit, twopenny-halfpenny, unimportant, unsavory, unsavoury, unworthy, vain, valueless, vapid, vile, worthless), ‏سخيف (absurd, childish, daft, dotty, fatuous, inept, ridiculous, silly, spoony, tomfool), ‏أحمق (ass, barmy, berk, bonkers, brutish, childish, chuckle-head, chump, cuckoo, daft, empty, empty headed, fantastic, fat, fathead, fatuous, footless, goofy, goon, haywire, idiotic, impolitic, imprudent, indiscreet, inept, injudicious, insensate, jerk, lemon, mad, meaningless, nit, nitwit, nonsensical, numskull, ornery, oyster, perverse, pointless, prat, screwball, senseless, sod, stupid, unwise, vacant, wacky, weak, weak-minded, whacky, witless, wood-headed, zany). (various references)

Bulgarian 

смешен (amusing, comic, comical, derisive, derisory, farcical, funny, laughable, laughing, ludicrous, quizzical, ridiculous, risible, screwy), глупав (anserine, asinine, blackhearted, blithering, blockish, blunt, brainless, cockscomb, crass, daft, dense, dim witted, dopey, dopy, dozy, fat, fatuous, flat-footed, fool, footless, footling, goofy, hebetate, inane, inept, irrational, lame brain, lumpish, lunatic, mindless, mutton-headed, nonsensical, off one's nut, piffling, puddingy, puerile, purblind, sappy, senseless, silly, simple, slow witted, stockish, stupid, thick, thick-skulled, thick-witted, tomfool, trumpery, unintelligent, unwise, vacant, vacuous, whacked, witless, wooden-headed), лекомислен (airy, airy fairy, dizzy, empty headed, fast, featherbrained, flip, flippant, frivolous, giddy, harebrained, harum scarum, idle, inconstant, light, light minded, light-headed, scatter-brained, superficial, trivial, unreflecting, unthinking). (various references)

Chinese 

笨 (clumsy, silly, slow-witted, stupid), 痴 (imbecile, sentimental, silly, stupid), 愚� � (follies, FOLLY, stupidity, Stupidness), 傻 , 呆 (no expression, stay, stupid). (various references)

Czech

pošetilý (airy fairy, cock eyed, crackpot, fatuous, fond, gowk, naïve, preposterous, silly, unreasonable), pitomý (bloody, daft, dopey, dumb, fool, frigging, gormless, idiotic, jerked), nerozumný (impractical, reasonless, unreasonable, unsound, unwise), hloupý (awkward, brainless, cretinous, daft, dull, empty headed, fatuous, fat-witted, half-witted, inane, lame brain, logy, mutton-headed, silly, soft-brained, spoony, stupid, thick, thickskulled), bláhový (fond). (various references)

Danish

dum (addled, stupid). (various references)

Dutch

zot (absurd, buffoon, fool, jester, ridiculous), onverstandig, dwaas (absurd, fool), dom (addled, cathedral, dull, obtuse, stupid, stupidly). (various references)

Esperanto

stulta (stupid), malsaĝa. (various references)

Faeroese

fávitskutur, tápuligur (addled, stupid). (various references)

Finnish

tyhmä (addled, dense, dull, silly, stupid, thick-headed, unwise). (various references)

French

sot (fool), stupide. (various references)

Frisian

mâl. (various references)

German

dumm (addled, asinine, blockish, brainless, dull, dully, dumb, fatuous, footling, ignorant, imbecile, imbecilic, inane, inanely, oafish, obtuse, purblindly, silly, stupid, stupidly, thick, thumb, unintelligent), töricht (foolishly, idle, imbecile, imbecilic, misguided, misguidedly, mistaken, silly, stupid, vain), närrisch (clownish, harebrained, mad, madly, scatty, silly), albern (absurd, addled, clownish, fatuous, fatuously, footling, giggly, inane, inanely, ludicrous, ridiculous, silly, simper, simpering, simperingly, stupid). (various references)

Greek 

κουτός, βλαμμένος (dopey, jerk, stupid), μωρόσ (crass, driveller, fatuous, food, fool, goofy, idiotic, moron, ninny, simp, simpleton, spoony, vacuous, witless, zany), χαζός (bozo, dumb, fool, silly, stupid), ανόητοσ (blithering, daft, fatuous, fool, goofy, idiot, inane, inept, insensate, insipient, knighterrantry, ninny, nitwit, nonsensical, sappy, senseless, silly, slap happy, unwise, witless). (various references)

Hawaiian

marrë (addled, stupid). (various references)

Hebrew 

שטותי (inept, nonsensical), פות�" (hole for a hinge, naןve, opening, pudenda, silly, simple, vagina, vulva), אוילי (asinine, dense, fatuous, preposterous, silly, sottish, stupid), אב�"ראי, �"�"יוטי (ignorant, silly), טפשי (anserine, dim witted, senseless, silly, stupid, thickheaded, witless), סכל (foolishness, stupidity), � ואל (stupid). (various references)

Hungarian

nevetséges (absurd, comic, comical, farcical, laughable, ludicrous, mummery, ridiculous, risible, undignified), esztelen (beyond reason, brainless, insensate, mindless, preposterous, to be out of one's skull, unreasonable), buta (addled, anserine, blunt, bovine, brainless, dead above the ears, dim-witted, doltish, dull, dumb, fatuous, loggerheaded, mindless, silly, simple minded, stupid, to be out of one's skull, unwise, zombie), bolond (batty, berk, bonkers, coxcomb, cracked, crackpot, crazed, crazy, daft, dement, demented, dippy, droll, fool, goofy, hare-brained, loco, loony, lunatic, mad, madman, moonstruck, nutter, nutty, off the beam, ratty, scatty, screwy, to be not such a fool as people make out, to be nuts, to be up the pole, up the pole). (various references)

Indonesian

konyol (constant bad luck, half mad, incompetent), gila-gilaan (exessive, foolhardy, frantic, like mad), gelo (unmannered), ahmak (a fool). (various references)

Italian

sciocco (addled, booby, daffy, daft, doltish, featherbrain, fool, goofy, Gotham, inane, Looby, loon, ludicrous, nincompoop, nitwit, noodle, sap, silly, simper, soppy, spoony, stupid), stupido (addled, asinine, blockhead, chump, clot, dumb, fool, idiot, idiotic, mindless, nitwit, numskull, oafish, silly, stupid, stupide, witless), stolto (fool, gate, goal, silly, stupid), ignorante (abecedarian, addled, clodhopper, dunce, ignoramus, ignorant, ill-informed, illiterate, impolite, nescient, rude, stupid, uneducated, unillumined, uninformed, unknowable). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

拙い (clumsy, unlucky, unskillful), 愚かしい (stupid), 愚か (stupid). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

たわいない (absurd, childish, easy, guileless, silly, trifling), おろかしい (stupid), おろか (stupid), ばか�'た (absurd), つたない (clumsy, unlucky, unskillful), ぐ (ingredients, means, silly, stupid, tool). (various references)

Korean 

미� �한. (various references)

Manx

ommidjagh (absurd, brainless, crackpot, fatuous, idiotic, imbecile, madcap, nonsensical, scatter-brained, silly), neuhushtagh (undiscerning), meecheayllagh (daft), bolvaneagh (senseless, silly, stupid), blebbinagh (gullible). (various references)

Norwegian

tåpelig (daft, inane, inept). (various references)

Papiamen

sokete (addled, fool, stupid), chambòn (addled, fool, stupid), bubè (addled, stupid), bobo (addled, stupid). (various references)

Pig Latin

oolishfay.(various references)

Polish

głupi (addled, stupid). (various references)

Portuguese

tolo (addle-brained, addled, corny, cuddy, daft, dull, finical, fool, gaby, goat, gowk, gull, hard-hearted, inept, insane, insensate, looby, loony, mad, madman, naïve, nincompoop, ninny, ninny-hammer, nitwit, pigeon, pumpkin-head, screwy, silly, simpleton, softhead, softy, spoon, spoony, stock, stupe, stupid, tomfool, tom-noddy, vacuous, wacky, witless). (various references)

Romanian

fãrã rost (aimless, beside the purpose, dud, to no end, vain), nãuc (bewildered, blockhead, crazy, dumbfounded, dunderhead, flurried, giddy, silly), aiurea (abroad, apple-sauce, elsewhere, fiddlededee, fiddlesticks, nonsense, phooey, stow it, you don't say so), aiurit (blunder-head, distracted, distraught, driveller, drivelling, flighty, giddy, hare-brained, irresponsible, light-headed, muddle-head, nut, oddball, scatterbrain, scatterbrains, silly, thoughtless, twaddling, whiffler, wool gathering, wrongheaded), bleg (blockhead, dolt, drooping, flabby, flaccid, half hearted, remiss, sheepish, shy, silly, skulker, sloppy, sluggish, timid, weak, weakly), candriu (cracked, potty), caraghios (antic, blockhead, booby, buffoon, comic, dolt, eccentric, fool, funny, ridiculous, ridiculously, screaming, singular, strange, zany), gogoman (addle-headed, booby, fool), hãbãuc (thick-headed, thick-muddle), absurd (absurd, absurdity, absurdly, Dotty, fabulous, impossible, inept, irrational, ludicrous, mad, mindless, nonsensical, piffling, preposterous, recondite, ridiculous, silly, stupid, temerarious, unreasonable), nãtãfleţ (blockhead, duffer, mug, pigeon, silly, spoony), stupid (doltish, dull, dull-witted, foolishly, Goosey, idiotic, idiotical, idle, inane, inept, insipid, mindless, senseless, silly, stupid, stupidly, wooden-headed), nebun (bad, bedlamite, bishop, brain sick, cracked, crazy, daft, delirious, demented, demoniac, distracted, distraught, extravagant, fool, frantic, frenzied, infatuated, insane, lunatic, mad, mad about, madcap, madman, maniac, maniacial, moon-struck, potty, raving, reckless, unruly, wild), nebunesc (crazy, desperate, insensate, lunatic, mad, madman's, nonsensical, reckless, wild), necugetat (ill-advised, ill-advisedly, inadvertent, mad, precipitate, rashly, reckless, thoughtless, thoughtlessly), neghiob (blockhead, booby, clumsy, dolt, dullard, lubber-head, sheep, sheepish, silly, simpleton, stupid, zany), nesãbuit (hare-brained, harum scarum, hell-bent, insensate, mad, rashly, reckless, recklessly, wild), pripit (beforehand, hasty, hurried, impetuous, previous, quick, rash, rashly, thoughtless), prost (ass, bad, badly, beef-witted, blinkard, blockhead, blunt, booby, calf, cheap, clumsy, cock eyed, common, dead, dolt, doltish, donkey, dull, dullard, dumb, dunce, dunderhead, flat, fool, good for nothing, goof, goon, goose, Goosey, gull, harmful, idiot, idiotish, inhospitable, lousy, lubber-head, miserable, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, nitwitted, noddy, noodle, numskull, numskulled, oaf, oafish, pin head, poor, poorly, silly, simple, simpleton, snipe, soft, soft-headed, sorry, spoony, stupid, thoughtless, unfavorable, unfavourable, wretched, zombie), prostesc (anile, crazy, fatuous, flim-flam, idiotic, idiotical, idle, insensate, nonsensical, silly, stupid, witless), ridicol (clownish, derisive, farcical, grotesque, humorous, laughable, laughably, ludicrous, preposterous, ridicule, ridiculous, ridiculously, risible), nãtâng (blockhead, clumsy, dead from the neck, Dotty, driveller, duffer, dummy, dunce, fat-head, feather-brained, noddy, silly, tomfool, wet, zombie). (various references)

Russian 

глупый (anserine, apish, asinine, barmy, beef-witted, blockish, bovine, brain dead, brainless, cloddish, daft, dense, doddery, drippy, fatuous, fat-witted, featherbrain, featherbrained, feather-brained, gaga, goofy, harebrained, idle-headed, inane, inept, mindless, mutton-headed, nitwitted, nonsensical, oafish, sappy, silly, simple-minded, soft-headed, spoony, stupid, thickskulled, thick-skulled, thick-witted, timber-headed, unwise, wooden-headed). (various references)

Scottish

faoin (silly, unwise, vain, void), saoibh, leamh (impertinent, insipid, silly), gòrach (silly, thoughtless, unwise), baoth (stupid, unwise), b� , b� th. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

ludački (berserker, crazy, madman), budalast (addle-brained, addle-pate, cock eyed, cockeye, daffy, dippy, dopey, dopy, half-witted, idleheaded, infatuated, nitwitted). (various references)

Spanish

zote (addled, stupid), tonto (ass, cabbagehead, calvish, clod-poll, crass, crazed, cretin, dimwit, dink, dispensary, dummy, dunderhead, fool, greaseproof paper, harebrained, idiot, idiotic, idleheaded, jenny ass, lemon, loose, nonsensical, numbhead, pinhead, silly, simple minded, soft, soft-headed, soppy, spoony, stupid, unwise, wall eyed, witless), necio (apish, clod, fatuous, featherbrained, fool, loggerhead, ludicrous, poor, silly, simper, vacuous). (various references)

Sranan

lawlaw, don (addled, stupid). (various references)

Swedish

löjlig (absurd, derisive, derisory, funny, laughable, ludicrous, ridiculous), dum (addled, bird brained, blithering, crass, daft, dense, doltish, dopey, dopy, dumb, empty headed, fatuous, fool, goofy, half-witted, idiotic, idle-headed, insensate, lumpish, nitwitted, oafish, opaque, phoney, rattle-brained, rattle-headed, rattle-pated, sappy, silly, stupid, witless), dåraktig (crazy, insane, lunatic, mad, nuts). (various references)

Thai

โง่ (brainless, dipstick, dizzy, dull, dumb, lumpish, muddle-headed, nerdy, oafish, silly, simple, simple-minded, stockish, thick, thickheaded, thick-witted), �"ูน่าหัวเราะ. (various references)

Turkish

ahmak (addled, ass, blockhead, boob, bumpkin, cabbagehead, chucklehead, chumpish, clot, country bumpkin, crass, cretin, deadly dull, dimwitted, dolt, doltish, dreary, dullish, dumb bell, dunderhead, dunderheaded, fathead, fool, gander, gawk, gawky, goat, goof, goose, greenhorn, Gubbins, half wit, half-witted, hayseed, idiot, jackass, jerk, josser, kookaburra, light in the head, loon, lummox, lump, muggins, mutt, mutton head, noddy, numskull, prune, pudding-head, sap, saphead, sappy, schlepper, simp, soft, stupid, twerp). (various references)

Turkmen 

gagal (stupid), akmak (stupid). (various references)

Ukrainian

недоумкуватий (ament, anile, batchy, changeling, crack-brained, crackpot, cracky, crazy, cretinous, daft, doddery, feeble minded, half wit, idiot, imbecile, moron, weak-minded), безглуздий (absurd, addle-brained, addle-pated, barmy, blind, brainless, brute, crack-brained, crazy, idiotic, idiotical, impertinent, insane, ludicrous, meaningless, nail biting, nonsensical, pointless, preposterous, senseless, wanton, wet), дурний (anserine, asinine, balmy, bat-minded, bovine, cloddish, cracked, daft, dense, fatuous, featherbrained, fool, gawky, goofy, harebrained, idle-headed, mindless, mutton-headed, nonsensical, oafish, obtuse, opaque, owlish, pigheaded, sappy, sottish, spoony, stockish, stupid, thoughtless). (various references)

Vietnamese 

ngu xuẩn, dại dột (uncanny). (various references)

Welsh

ffo+l (silly), ynfyd (rash), ehud (rash, simple), dwl (dull, stupid), cuall (blockhead, fool, quick, rash), chwidr (rash, wild), angall (unwise), amwyll (mad, madman, madness), amhwyllus, amhwyllog. (various references)

absaniae, anania, ananiae, ananiaeque, ananiam, ananias, aneni, anes, anus, demens, dementis, dementes, dementia, dementis, fatua, fatuae, fatue, fatui, fatuis, fatuitas, fatuitatem, fatuo, fatuorum, fatuum, fatuus, inane, inanem, inania, inanibus, inanis, inaniter, inasnum, ineptas, infans, infante, infantem, infantes, infantia, infantibus, infantium, infantum, inprudens, inprudentem, inprudentes, inprudenti, inprudentis, inprudentium, insanum, insipiens, insipiente, insipientem, insipientes, insipienti, insipientia, insipientibus, insipientis, insipientium, laevus levus, puerilis, racha, stulta, stultam, stultas, stulte, stulti, stultiloquium, stultis, stultissimus, stulto, stultorum, stultos, stultum, stultus. (various references)

dol, dysig, stunt. (various references)

gaga. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations

Words beginning with "foolish": foolisher, foolishest, foolishly, foolishness, foolishnesses. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Foolish" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: coolish, folish, Fotolito, Fuelish, Fullich, fullish, goolis, volkish. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: folios.

-2 letters: filos, foils, folio, fools, hoofs, loofs, olios, shool.

-3 letters: filo, fils, fish, foil, fool, hols, hoof, loof, loos, oils, olio, oohs, shoo, silo, soil, soli, solo.

-4 letters: fil, foh, his, ifs, lis, loo, oho, ohs, oil, ooh, sol.

-5 letters: hi, ho, if, is, li, lo, of, oh, os, sh, si, so.

+1 letter: foolfish.

+2 letters: foolisher, foolishly, foothills, shooflies.

+3 letters: folklorish, foolfishes, foolishest, footlights, hydrofoils.

+4 letters: childproofs, floodlights, foolishness.

+5 letters: followership, foolhardiest, trichlorfons.