FOLLY, n. That "gift and faculty divine" whose creative and controlling energy inspires Man's mind, guides his actions and adorns his life.

Folly! although Erasmus praised thee once In a thick volume, and all authors known, If not thy glory yet thy power have shown, Deign to take homage from thy son who hunts Through all thy maze his brothers, fool and dunce, To mend their lives and to sustain his own, However feebly be his arrows thrown,

Howe'er each hide the flying weapons blunts. All-Father Folly! be it mine to raise, With lusty lung, here on his western strand With all thine offspring thronged from every land, Thyself inspiring me, the song of praise. And if too weak, I'll hire, to help me bawl, Dick Watson Gilder, gravest of us all. Aramis Loto Frope

Source: THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993)
 

Folly \Fol"ly\, n.; pl. Follies. [OE. folie, foli, F. folie, fr. fol, fou, foolish, mad. See Fool.]

1. The state of being foolish; want of good sense; levity, weakness, or derangement of mind. [1913 Webster]

2. A foolish act; an inconsiderate or thoughtless procedure; weak or light-minded conduct; foolery. [1913 Webster]

What folly 'tis to hazard life for ill. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

3. Scandalous crime; sin; specifically, as applied to a woman, wantonness. [1913 Webster]

[Achan] wrought folly in Israel. --Josh. vii. 15. [1913 Webster]

When lovely woman stoops to folly. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]

4. The result of a foolish action or enterprise. [1913 Webster]

It is called this man's or that man's "folly," and name of the foolish builder is thus kept alive for long after years. --Trench. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

73 Moby Thesaurus words for "folly": absurdity, absurdness, act of folly, asininity, battiness, blunder, brainlessness, buffoonery, clownishness, crackpottedness, crankiness, craziness, daffiness, daftness, desipience, dottiness, dumb trick, dumbness, eccentricity, error, fatuity, fatuousness, faux pas, fluff, foolery, foolheadedness, foolishness, frivolity, frivolousness, gaffe, giddiness, goof, goofiness, idiocy, imbecility, imprudence, inanity, indiscretion, ineptitude, insanity, irrationality, kookiness, lunacy, madness, mindlessness, mistake, niaiserie, nonsense, nugacity, nuttiness, obtuseness, preposterousness, queerness, rashness, sappiness, screwiness, senselessness, silliness, sottise, stolidity, stolidness, stupid thing, stupidity, thoughtlessness, triflingness, triviality, unwise step, wackiness, weak-mindedness, weirdness, witlessness, zaniness, zanyism

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

folly

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Folly \Fol"ly\, n.; pl. Follies. [OE. folie, foli, F. folie, fr. fol, fou, foolish, mad. See Fool.]

1. The state of being foolish; want of good sense; levity, weakness, or derangement of mind.

2. A foolish act; an inconsiderate or thoughtless procedure; weak or light-minded conduct; foolery.

What folly 'tis to hazard life for ill. --Shak.

3. Scandalous crime; sin; specifically, as applied to a woman, wantonness.

[Achan] wrought folly in Israel. --Josh. vii. 15.

When lovely woman stoops to folly. --Goldsmith.

4. The result of a foolish action or enterprise.

It is called this man's or that man's ``folly,'' and name of the foolish builder is thus kept alive for long after years. --Trench.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)