cut the fool

verb

To fool around; to put on a show; to behave foolishly.

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Meanings

verbcut the fool (third-person singular simple present cuts the fool, present participle cutting the fool, simple past and past participle cut the fool)

present singular third person cuts the fool · participle present cutting the fool

  1. Southern USintransitiveTo fool around; to put on a show; to behave foolishly.

    Joe Slater danced fancy steps, and made the people laugh. "He shore can cut the fool!" they said.

    1945, Lois Lenski, Strawberry Girl, page 85
    2 more examples

    She said to him, "You taught them bird-dogs to rock in a rocking-chair just to torment me. Ever' beast or varmint you've brought home, you've learned to cut the fool as bad as you do."

    1940, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, When the Whippoorwill, page 28

    For all his smartness, the average white man is still stupid. All you have to do is call him "boss" and cut the fool for him, and he'll give you the gravy off his grits.

    1996, C. Eric Lincoln, The Avenue, Clayton City, page 51
Cite this entry
APA

cut the fool. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20the%20fool

MLA

“cut the fool.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20the%20fool. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cut the fool,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20the%20fool.

Source: cut the fool on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.