April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day (noun) means 1 April, a day on which people traditionally play tricks and tell invented stories, with the custom in many countries that the joking stops at noon. Example: “The newspaper ran a spoof story about square eggs for April Fools' Day.”
How to use April Fools' Day
Learner’s notesIn plain English1 April, the day people play tricks on each other.
Neutral; capitalised as a proper noun.
A person who is tricked is called an April fool, in lower case except at the start of a sentence.
Trace the full origin ↓Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
The newspaper ran a spoof story about square eggs for _____.
Etymology
From April fool, a person tricked on that date; the custom is recorded in Britain from the seventeenth century, but its origin is genuinely unknown and the popular explanations linking it to calendar reform are unverified.
Synonyms
View more →Rhymes for April Fools' Day
See all rhymes for April Fools' Day →Frequently asked questions
Is it April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day?
Both spellings are in print and neither is wrong. "April Fools' Day" is the more common form and treats the day as belonging to all the fools; "April Fool's Day" treats it as the day of the individual fool who is tricked.
Why does the joking have to stop at midday?
In Britain and Ireland there is a long-standing convention that pranks played after noon rebound on the person playing them, who then becomes the fool. It is a custom rather than a rule, and it is not observed in most other countries.
Where did April Fools' Day come from?
Nobody knows. The frequently repeated story that it began when France moved New Year from late March to 1 January has no contemporary evidence behind it, and historians treat the origin as unsettled.
What is the meaning of April Fools' Day?
"April Fools' Day" (noun) means 1 April, a day on which people traditionally play tricks and tell invented stories, with the custom in many countries that the joking stops at noon.