Note 1 - Nature of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Nov. 28, 2020		Aug. 29, 2020		May 30, 2020		Feb. 29, 2020		Nov. 30, 2019		Aug. 31, 2019		Jun. 01, 2019		Mar. 02, 2019		Nov. 28, 2020	Nov. 30, 2019	Dec. 01, 2018
Net income attributable to H.B. Fuller	$ 40,604		$ 41,607		$ 31,613		$ 9,895		$ 32,214		$ 49,718		$ 36,641		$ 12,244		$ 123,719	$ 130,817	$ 171,208
Weighted-average common shares – basic (in shares)	52,276	[1]	52,130	[1]	51,420	[1]	51,295	[1]	51,901	[1]	50,939	[1]	50,902	[1]	50,752	[1]	52,039,000	50,920,000	50,591,000
Equivalent shares from share-based compensation plans (in shares)																	481,000	1,063,000	1,384,000
Weighted-average common and common equivalent shares – diluted (in shares)	52,879	[1]	52,591	[1]	52,029	[1]	52,580	[1]									52,520,000	51,983,000	51,975,000
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.78		$ 0.80		$ 0.61		$ 0.19		$ 0.63	[1]	$ 0.98	[1]	$ 0.72	[1]	$ 0.24	[1]	$ 2.38	$ 2.57	$ 3.38
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.77		$ 0.79		$ 0.61		$ 0.19		$ 0.61	[1]	$ 0.97	[1]	$ 0.70	[1]	$ 0.24	[1]	$ 2.36	$ 2.52	$ 3.29

[1] Quarterly income per share amounts may not equal full year amounts due to rounding.