adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈfuːlhɑːdi/
General-American:/ˈfulˌhɑɹdi/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Australia:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:F UW1 L HH AA2 R D IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger; boldly rash; hotheaded.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A person who is foolhardy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adjective satellite
Meaning 3
marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences-Macaulay
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
foolhardy enough to try to seize the gun from the hijacker
became the fiercest and most reckless of partisans
a reckless driver
a rash attempt to climb Mount Everest
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: heady, rash, reckless
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English folehardy, foolhardi, folherdi, from Old French fol hardi (“foolishly bold”), from Old French fol (“foolish, silly; insane, mad”) (from Latin follis (“bellows; purse, sack; inflated ball; belly, paunch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bhelǵh- (“to swell”)) + Old French hardi (“durable, hardy, tough”) (past tense of hardir (“to harden”), from the unattested Frankish *hartjan, from Proto-Germanic *harduz (“hard; brave”)), equivalent to fool + hardy. Compare fool-bold, fool-large, etc.
Across languages
Translations
39 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
безразсъдно смел
(bezrazsǎdno smel)
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Dutch:
roekeloos
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Dutch:
doldriest
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Esperanto:
temerara
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Finnish:
hullunrohkea
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Finnish:
tyhmänrohkea
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Finnish:
huimapäinen
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
French:
tête brûlée
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Galician:
temerario
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
German:
töricht
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
German:
tollkühn
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
German:
vermessen
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
German:
verwegen
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
German:
ungestüm
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
German:
hitzköpfig
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
German:
dummdreist
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
German:
waghalsig
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Ancient Greek:
ῥιψοκίνδυνος
(rhipsokíndunos)
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Ancient Greek:
φιλοκίνδυνος
(philokíndunos)
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Hungarian:
vakmerő
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Indonesian:
nekat
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Italian:
avventato
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Italian:
spericolato
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Italian:
imprudente
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Italian:
dissennato
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Māori:
rorohuri
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Māori:
pokerenoa
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Norwegian:
dumdristig
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Polish:
wariacki
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Polish:
ryzykowny
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Russian:
безрассу́дно хра́брый
(bezrassúdno xrábryj)
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Russian:
необду́манно сме́лый
(neobdúmanno smélyj)
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Russian:
бесшабашный
(besšabašnyj)
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Spanish:
temerario
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Swedish:
dumdristig
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Turkish:
çılgınca
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Turkish:
delidolu
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Ottoman Turkish:
دلی
(deli)
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
Volapük:
lukünik
— marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger
