fool's gold

noun

: pyrite
broadly : any of various pyritic minerals resembling gold

Examples of fool's gold in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There is going to be a lot of gold in the coming avalanche of data, but this gold will be dwarfed by the amount of 'fool's gold'. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 20 Feb. 2012 This isn't the first time that a high-profile company has turned out to be a bit of fool's gold. Joel Mathis, The Week, 15 Nov. 2022 This year's potential cheat-code player has turned into fool's gold instead. Tony Holm, USA TODAY, 14 Nov. 2022 Winning off the efforts of Gordon, who will be on the wrong side of 35 when the Rockets are ready to actually contend, and Wood, who can walk entirely in a year, is fool's gold. Rahat Huq, Chron, 7 Dec. 2021 Pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide mineral used in the paper and jewelry industries. Reuters, CNN, 23 Nov. 2021 Worthless at first glance, this mineral is widely used in the chemical industry, and a new discovery suggests fool's gold is much more valuable than its name suggests. David Bressan, Forbes, 27 June 2021 But that apparent turnaround proved fool's gold as the Kentucky collapsed in the final four minutes yet again, and Allen's attempt at a possible game-winning 3 clanked off the rim on the final possession of a season-ending 74-73 loss. Jon Hale, The Courier-Journal, 11 Mar. 2021 Beating the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons in back-to-back games is fool's gold. Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press, 30 Oct. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fool's gold.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fool's gold was in 1828

Dictionary Entries Near fool's gold

Cite this Entry

“Fool's gold.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fool%27s%20gold. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

fool's gold

noun
: pyrite

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