As far as I can tell, both mean foolish. Checking a dictionary, 愚かしい is
defined as 愚かである。ばかげている。which does not help very much. Is there truly no real
difference?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-09T18:19:54.950
43345
2018-06-29T08:53:55.870
9971
question
word-choice words nuances
The difference between 愚かな and 愚かしい
The two words are similar in meaning and usage. However, two significant
differences stand out.

  1. 愚{おろ}かしい is much less commonly used than 愚{おろ}かな.

  2. 愚かしい is virtually never used to refer to people, whereas 愚かな certainly can.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-10T09:05:43.423
43378
2017-02-10T09:05:43.423
6702
43345
answer
愚か（だ） describes the _quality_ of "absent of wiseness", while 愚かしい, as with
[many i-adjectives that end in
-しい](http://dict4lyrics.from.tv/?q=%E3%81%97%E3%81%84&t=1), indicates a kind
of _mental perception_ such as sense, emotion or impression. In this sense,
愚かしい is actually telling "felt unwise" or "as if the unwise do", which is
interestingly close to English approach to say _foolish_ that is _fool_ +
_-ish_.

Thus you can say these two has slightly different connotation when both are
usable:

> 戦争の愚かさ  
>  (emphasizes how nonsense of (people to do) wars)
>
> 戦争の愚かしさ  
>  (emphasizes how (people doing) wars look irrational)

And it's not totally impossible to find some examples only either one sounds
valid:

> ○ 愚かな人間には理解できない _foolish humans will not understand_  
>  × 愚かしい人間には理解できない

The latter is unacceptable because 愚かしい does not imply inherent, permanent
character of foolishness.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-29T08:53:55.870
59791
2018-06-29T08:53:55.870
7810
43345
answer