How to say “fool” in 34 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- tonta/ˈtonta/ Spanish
- дурак[dʊˈrak] Russian
- 笨蛋/pən⁵¹⁻⁵³ tän⁵¹/ Chinese
- 바보[ˈpa̠(ː)bo̞] Korean
- गधा/ɡə.d̪ʱɑː/ Hindi
- טיפש/tiˈpeʃ/ Hebrew
“fool” in Spanish: tonta · Chinese: 笨蛋 · Korean: 바보 · Russian: дурак · Hindi: गधा · Turkish: ahmak
It is commonest in Tamil, where முட்டாள் is the 186th most used word.
Fool in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian budalla/budaˈɫa/ fool, crazy person #423
- Arabic لها/la.haː/ to divert oneself, to fool around, to putz… #104
- Bengali বেকুব/bekub/ fool; dumb; idiot; dunce #1,089
- Bosnian budala/budǎla/ fool, idiot, simpleton #1,131
- Bulgarian глупак[ɡɫoˈpak] fool, simpleton, bonehead #756
- Chinese 笨蛋/pən⁵¹⁻⁵³ tän⁵¹/ fool; idiot; silly #333
- Croatian budala/budǎla/ fool, idiot, simpleton #1,164
- Czech blázen[ˈblaːzɛn] #830
- Danish idiot/idiˈoːˀd/ an idiot, imbecile, fool #616
- English trick/ˈtɹɪk/ Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart,… #1,519
- Estonian jobu/ˈjob̥u/ jerk, fool, loser #916
- German trottel/ˈtʁɔtəl/ idiot, fool, boob, etc #2,095
- Hebrew טיפש/tiˈpeʃ/ #600
- Hindi गधा/ɡə.d̪ʱɑː/ a fool; ass #1,297
- Icelandic fífl[ˈfipl̥] fool, idiot, buffoon #641
- Italian farla/ˈfar.la/ to make a fool of #1,181
- Korean 바보[ˈpa̠(ː)bo̞] fool, moron, idiot #419
- Latvian muļķi/ˈmuʎci/ fool, stupid man #1,178
- Lithuanian kvailys[kʋɐɪ²ˈlʲiːs] fool, idiot #577
- Macedonian будала[ˈbudaɫa] #841
- Malayalam വിഡ്ഢി/ʋiɖɖ(ʱ)i/ fool, idiot #408
- Norwegian idiot/ɪdɪˈuːt/ an idiot, imbecile, fool #645
- Persian احمق[ʔæɦ.mǽɢ̥] idiot, fool, dolt #287
- Russian дурак[dʊˈrak] fool, simpleton, idiot #1,962
- Serbian budala/budǎla/ fool, idiot, simpleton #1,000
- Slovak blázon/blaːzɔn/ #489
- Slovenian bedak/bɛdàːk/ #422
- Spanish tonta/ˈtonta/ a fool, a stupid person #1,824
- Swedish lura/ˈlʉra/ to trick, to fool, to deceive, to lure #1,635
- Tagalog bobo/ˈbobo/ fool; idiot; simpleton; dunce #684
- Tamil முட்டாள்/mʊʈːɑːɭ/ fool, stupid, idiot, simpleton, dunce #186
- Turkish ahmak[ɑh.mɑk] fool, stupid, silly #2,251
- Ukrainian дурень[ˈdurenʲ] fool, idiot, imbecile #1,580
- Vietnamese bịp[ʔɓip̚˧˨ʔ] to trick, to fool #2,405
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.