COMMON If a plan or something you want to achieve is fool's gold, it seems good but in reality is not likely to be successful or of good quality. ID cards are fool's gold. Their only use would be to identify the victims of the next disaster. All we wanted was an honourable settlement. He chose to go after fool's gold and lost. Note: Fool's gold is another name for iron pyrite, a gold-coloured mineral that is found in rock and that people sometimes mistake for gold.