foolproof

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ-der.

Latin follis

Old French folbor.

Middle English fol

English fool

English proof

English -proof

English foolproof

From fool + -proof.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfuːl ˌpɹuːf/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

foolproof (comparative more foolproof, superlative most foolproof)

1. Of a device: protected against, or designed to be proof against, misuse or error.
2. Of an idea or plan: certain to succeed in all eventualities, or claimed to be so; infallible.
   • 1960 July 11, Harper Lee, chapter 15, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:

     Dill had hit upon a foolproof plan to make Boo Radley come out at no cost to ourselves (place a trail of lemon drops from the back door to the front yard and he’d follow it, like an ant).

   • 2021 June 1, Marie-Dominique, “‘Throw the ingredients together with reckless abandon!’: Guardian readers on their tastiest foolproof bakes”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 3 July 2021:

     My foolproof recipe is my gâteau fermière.

   • 2022 January 24, Allan Jenkins, Molly Tait-Hyland, “The 20 best easy dinner recipes – every one simple and delicious”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 9 March 2022:

     From Nigella Lawson’s effortless spaghetti with Marmite to Chetna Makan’s foolproof chicken curry – the recipes to turn to when you want easy but tasty suppers

Derived terms

• foolproofly
• foolproofness

Related terms

• bulletproof
• dummy-proof
• idiot-proof

Translations

(device) fail-safe

• Bulgarian: безопасен (bg) (bezopasen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 防呆 (fángdāi)

• Czech: blbuvzdorný (cs)
• Danish: idiotsikker
• German: narrensicher (de), idiotensicher (de)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: idiotsikker (no)

  Nynorsk: idiotsikker

• Polish: idiotoodporny (pl)
• Spanish: seguro (es), a prueba de tontos
• Swedish: idiotsäker (sv)

(plan) infallible

• Arabic: مُحْكَمَة (ar) f (muḥkama)
• Catalan: infal·lible (ca)
• Dutch: onfeilbaar (nl), kogelbestendig (nl)
• French: infaillible (fr)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: idiotsikker (no)

• Polish: niezawodny (pl)
• Portuguese: infalível (pt)
• Spanish: infalible (es)

Verb

foolproof (third-person singular simple present foolproofs, present participle foolproofing, simple past and past participle foolproofed)

1. (transitive) To render (something) foolproof.

   We foolproofed the operations.

Further reading

• “foolproof”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.