buffoon
Americannoun
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a person who amuses others by ridiculous or odd behaviour, jokes, etc
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a foolish person
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of buffoon
First recorded in 1540–50; earlier buffon, from French, from Italian buffone, equivalent to buff- (expressive form; compare buffa “puff of breath,” buffare “to puff, puff up one's cheeks”) + -one agent suffix, ultimately from Latin -ōnem, accusative of nominative noun suffix -ō
Explanation
A buffoon is someone whose ridiculous behavior is a source of amusement to others. People you might call a buffoon are a political rival or the guy at work who tells silly jokes at office parties. The noun buffoon has changed its spelling over the years, but not really its meaning. In Middle French, it was bouffon, which came from the Italian buffone, meaning "jester." The original root is the Latin buffare. Think of the stereotypical court jester, the person who makes jokes and falls about trying to make the king laugh — he's paid to be a buffoon.
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
James wasn’t the buffoon his critics disdain, but nor was he a durable leader whose reforms would endure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
They see that he’s a buffoon, but they know that the United States is still the world’s most consequential great power.
From Slate ● Nov. 20, 2025
Created by a solo developer known only as LocalThunk, card game Balatro - which takes its name from the Latin for jester or buffoon - is one of the year's biggest success stories.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2024
If the TMZ Selfie Tour could help me look like even slightly less than a ham-handed buffoon in pictures of my own taking it would be worth the price.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 16, 2023
He didn’t seem to be outstandingly bright and many of his colleagues considered him little more than "an irritating buffoon."
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
This is old craft, passed down by far more charismatic heels, but you don’t get to select your generation’s buffoons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 20, 2025
They are not, though, always dissimilar onscreen, and in far too many movies, they tend to fall into reliably distinct camps of gaudy buffoons, heroic saviors or unrepentant villains.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2022
Two buffoons attempt to install a rooftop radio antenna.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2020
Austen makes buffoons of her characters, but she never dabbles in cruelty.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2020
Josh and Luis just laugh like buffoons until Ashley says it’s time for our break.
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
