Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His efforts to be a terrifying figure are routinely undercut by his clownishness.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2025
The problem with evil clowns is that it’s the clownishness, not the evil, they soon shed.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 14, 2022
Goals at the other end have declined, too, by about a third, but that’s a small price to pay if it lessens the embarrassing clownishness at the back.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 17, 2020
The movie collapses the difference between Rudy Ray Moore and the character he created, treating his creativity as another kind of high-spirited clownishness, and his struggle for recognition as a comic hustle.
From New York Times ● Oct. 2, 2019
He was beginning to understand the various reasons of his seeming clownishness, but this very process of self-study opposed an obstacle to improvement.
From Born in Exile by George Gissing
