clown car
Americannoun
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a very small car used in a comedic circus routine, in which the normal passenger capacity is greatly exceeded by the numerous clowns who climb out from inside.
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Informal. a group whose size seems absurdly excessive for the purported function of the group, and whose effectiveness is therefore questionable.
The planning committee has added yet another member to its clown car, almost guaranteeing further delays.
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Informal. a small car.
He used to call my old Beetle a clown car, but when gas prices soared, I got the last laugh.
Etymology
Origin of clown car
First recorded in 1950–55; from a comedy routine used in the Cole Bros. Circus
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.
He’d entered the league thrust into the position of savior, a 21-year-old high draft pick from USC trapped in a Meadowlands clown car.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
He has professional lawyers working on this case, not the clown car he rolled out for his civil trials.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2024
Rather, his show has a long track record of amplifying fringe science, conspiracy theory and baseless contrarianism, the very criticisms Hotez made in passing on getting into a clown car.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 29, 2023
Each of these stories is like a circus clown car, stuffed with more meaning than Wolitzer’s deceptively simple sentences seem able to contain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2021
Just roll everybody up who is willing to do it into a clown car, and when it’s time for a press conference, roll them out.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 28, 2020
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.
