English → Latin
“foolish” in Latin
stultusfoolish, fatuous, stupid, ill-consideredfatuusfoolish, silly, simple, stupid; insipid, tasteless; awkward, clumsy, unwieldystolidusstupid, foolishdēmōto remove, take away, or subtract; to withhold, take away, subtract fromineptusunsuitable; impertinent, improper, tasteless; senseless, sillyīnsulsusunsalted, flavorless; deprived of wit, not clever, dull, stupid, absurd; bungling, awkwardvēsānusmad, insane, frenzied; impetuous; fierce, wild, savage, furiousrīdiculuslaughable, funny, amusing, humorous; laughable, silly, absurd, ridiculousmīruswonderful, marvelous, amazing, surprising, miraculous
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
foolish
stultus (foolish, from want of practical wisdom, μωρός; opposed to prudens, of persons or things): fatuus (silly; from want of judgement): stolidus (from want of reasonable moderation; from brutality): demens (that has lost his mind; who acts senselessly): ineptus (without good sense): insulsus (absurd): mente captus: vesanus (insane, mad): ridiculus (amusing, like a fool): mirus (strange). A foolish affair or thing, mira res; mirum negotium: a foolish fellow (i. e., droll), ridiculum caput. I consider it very foolish to, etc., summae dementiae esse judico, with following infinitive.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for foolish?
- The usual Latin words for “foolish” are stultus, fatuus, stolidus; also dēmō, ineptus, īnsulsus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.