Meanings
nounmotley fool (plural motley fools)
plural motley fools
- A court jester; a jester.
A fool, a fool! I met a fool i’ th’ forest, / A motley fool. A miserable world!
c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna professional clown employed to entertain a king or nobleman in the Middle Ages
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From motley (“multi-colored cloth; a jester's clothes”) + fool (“a jester”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
motley fool. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motley%20fool
MLA
“motley fool.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motley%20fool. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “motley fool,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motley%20fool.
Source: motley fool on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.