Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Designed so as to be impervious to human incompetence, error, or misuse: a foolproof detonator; a foolproof safety lock.
- adj. Effective; infallible: a foolproof scheme.
Wiktionary
- adj. For a device: protected, or designed to be proof against misuse or error; fail-safe.
- adj. For an idea or plan: infallible, or bulletproof.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. not liable to failure
- v. proof against human misuse or error
Etymologies
- fool + -proof (Wiktionary)
Examples
““A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.””
“Curse that Aimee and her so-called foolproof formula for success: “Wear your hair down and the highest heels you have, then watch the tips roll in.””
“The little formulas that the smart boys who design these so-called foolproof systems build in so they can sneak a gander whenever they feel like it.”
“He proceeded to share his so-called foolproof secrets on how he managed to purchase eleven cars in his lifetime way below sticker price.”
“There is nothing which can be called foolproof or completely safe.”
“However, mammograms as important as they are, are not 100\% foolproof, which is why a CBE by a trained examiner is strongly recommended.”
Phoenix Arizona Real Estate Local News and Business Directory
“Look, I'm not an expert, but I am a bit skeptical that we could invent some kind of foolproof shield to stop a bunch of nukes.”
“I'd like to have close cooperation with the United States, but in tenders I prefer a good price and good quality," Mr. Schwarzenberg said, adding that only a "foolproof" safety design would be acceptable.”
The Wall Street Journal: Czechs Weighs Alternatives to Russian Energy
“Forget "foolproof" technology — we need systems designed to fail smartly”
“What do you think about Google Doc's security, especially when it comes to how "foolproof" the app is?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘foolproof’.
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Mirrored Vowels
Rules:
• The word must have an even number of vowels.
• There must be four or more vowels; thus, at minimum, an A-A-A-A or A-B-B-A pattern.
• The vowels must appear in a mir...feminine, solicitor, caruncular, repackager, semiprimes, fetishises, decomposer, demonlover, recomposer, sepultures, lipotropic, colesterol and 385 more...
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Here's Your Proof
A list of words ending in -proof. Please add your favorite(s). Mine is foolproof.
*Proof* looks and sounds funny to me.
Included is proof-strain, which, with strainproof, makes a nice ...windproof, soundproof, frostproof, fireproof, childproof, rainproof, airproof, waterproof, skidproof, weatherproof, shellproof, shockproof and 125 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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Para-Palindromes
Almost palindromes--off by a letter, e.g., FOOlPrOOF & BaTHTuB. For alphabetizing purposes the first and last letters much be the same. Also, no three-, four-, or five-letter words allowed--too e...
yawny, xerox, woodrow, urubu, thought, scarabs, redeemer, peeseweep, outdo, nonegon, marjoram, laconical and 15 more...
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GCI
spinster, maiden, happy-go-lucky, homonym, ill-at-ease, saw red, out of sorts, hot under the collar, taken aback, pen-names, alias, shoelaces and 378 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, F
felony, frolic, fend, fuselage, farthingale, freewheeling, frigorific, flummery, fancypants, felsitic, flagstone, flageolet and 295 more...
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Monovocalics
Words that have only one of the vowels. On this list I include only words with at least three vowels. When I first started the list, if a word had several forms, I generally listed only the one wit...
syzygy, mirific, cumulus, homolog, monocot, bedewed, jezebel, referee, bikini, minikin, locomotor, terebenthene and 2359 more...
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miscellany
preposterous, minimalism, outnumbered, subroutine, malinger, oddity, eccentricity, laughable, oxymoronic, interstellar, winter, heedless and 335 more...
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sarahlena's list
Vocabularies
knee, admire, ambition, bend, experience, grow up, memory, opportunity, proud, regret, success, invent and 49 more...
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O
monovocalic with 'o' but ONLY if I like them :-)
potoroo, woolloomoolloo, polo, booboo, morocco, pomology, mofongo, bloodroot, foolproof, bonobo, oboe, colocolo and 20 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for foolproof.
sarahlena even an Idiot can do it
Sure to be successful
May 27, 2009
asativum That which usually proves not to be. Sep 15, 2008