clown

[ kloun ]

/ klaʊn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR clown ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a comic performer, as in a circus, theatrical production, or the like, who wears an outlandish costume and makeup and entertains by pantomiming common situations or actions in exaggerated or ridiculous fashion, by juggling or tumbling, etc.

a person who acts like a clown; comedian; joker; buffoon; jester.

a prankster; a practical joker.

Slang. a coarse, ill-bred person; a boor.

a peasant; rustic.

verb (used without object)

to act like a clown.

Nearby words

Origin of clown

1555–65; earlier cloyne, clowne, perhaps akin to Old Norse klunni boor, Danish dialect klunds, Swedish dialect klunn log

SYNONYMS FOR clown

3. lout, churl. 4. bumpkin.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR clown ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsclown·ish, adjectiveclown·ish·ly, adverbclown·ish·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for clown

So many families come that Vargas has arranged for a clown to entertain the kids.
America’s Fastest Growing Death Holiday Is From Mexico|Michael Schulson|November 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
An 18-year-old man dressed as a clown mugged a pedestrian, striking him 30 times in the back and neck with an iron bar.
French Freak-Out Over Creepy Clowns|Tracy McNicoll|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There have more recent reports of Wasco Clown inspired sightings from as far away as Fishers, Indiana.
Nightmares in Face Paint: Why We’ll Always Be Afraid of Clowns|Oliver Jones|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The subtext of the clown is that life is a joke and can be snatched away at any moment.
Nightmares in Face Paint: Why We’ll Always Be Afraid of Clowns|Oliver Jones|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

There is something about a clown that stays with people: the bright colors, their tendency to be demonstrative.
Nightmares in Face Paint: Why We’ll Always Be Afraid of Clowns|Oliver Jones|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The clown, by boisterous and often indecorous jest, raises peals of merriment.
A Civil Servant in Burma|Herbert Thirkel White
But Southwark ought to have sufficed to satisfy the ambition of a clown.
The Man Who Laughs|Victor Hugo
Many exciting adventures were happening there behind the screen to the little yellow-gowned girl and the clown in satin.
Little Jeanne of France|Madeline Brandeis
This news was so unexpected, so startling that for a moment the clown was dumb; and now his surprise was genuine.
File No. 113|Emile Gaboriau
But the two little girls were crying bitterly in one another's arms, and Barbara turned on the clown with tremendous indignation.
The Talking Horse|F. Anstey

British Dictionary definitions for clown

clown

/ (klaʊn) /

noun

a comic entertainer, usually grotesquely costumed and made up, appearing in the circus

any performer who elicits an amused response

someone who plays jokes or tricks

a person who acts in a comic or buffoon-like manner

a coarse clumsy rude person; boor

archaic a countryman or rustic

verb (intr)

to perform as a clown

to play jokes or tricks

to act foolishly

Derived Formsclownery, nounclownish, adjectiveclownishly, adverbclownishness, noun

Word Origin for clown

C16: perhaps of Low German origin; compare Frisian klönne, Icelandic klunni clumsy fellow

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for clown

clown

1560s, clowne, also cloyne, "rustic, boor, peasant," origin uncertain. Perhaps from Scandinavian dialect (cf. Icelandic klunni "clumsy, boorish fellow;" Swedish kluns "a hard knob; a clumsy fellow," Danish klunt "log, block"), or akin to North Frisian klönne "clumsy person." Or, less likely, from Latin colonus "colonist, farmer," though awareness of this word might have influenced the sense development in English.

Meaning "professional fool, professional or habitual jester" is c.1600. "The pantomime clown represents a blend of the Shakes[pearean] rustic with one of the stock types of the It. comedy" [Weekley]. Meaning "contemptible person" is from 1920s. Fem. form clowness attested from 1801.

clown

c.1600, "to play the clown onstage," from clown (n.); colloquial sense of "to behave inappropriately" (e.g. clown around, 1932) attested by 1928, perhaps from theatrical slang sense of "play a (non-comical) part farcically or comically" (1891). Related: Clowned; clowning.

clown

noun

verb (used without object)

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Origin of clown

Examples from the Web for clown

clown

noun

verb (intr)

Word Origin for clown

clown

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