Pierrot
Americannoun
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a male character in certain French pantomime, having a whitened face and wearing a loose, white, fancy costume.
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(lowercase) an actor, masquerader, or buffoon so made up.
noun
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a male character from French pantomime with a whitened face, white costume, and pointed hat
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(usually not capital) a clown or masquerader so made up
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Pierrot
1735–45; < French, diminutive of Pierre Peter
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:
Patricia Pierrot said she had stopped taking the bus entirely, calling it "too stifling".
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Cecile Pierrot is a cryptographer – an expert in codes.
From NewsForKids.net ● Nov. 29, 2022
"This was our Rosetta Stone," says Pierrot, referring to the inscriptions which help decode Egyptian hieroglyphics.
From BBC ● Nov. 26, 2022
PSG came under pressure at the start of the second half, with Maccabi threatening twice through Seck and forward Frantzdy Pierrot.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2022
Pierrot glanced across his sister’s lap toward Jackson.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
AFP attended a recent rehearsal at the Theatre des Trois Pierrots in Saint-Cloud, west of Paris.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
Pierrots, sailors, harlequins and peasants follow in the procession, small bells sewn to their costumes ringing as local brass bands play the streets.
From Reuters ● Feb. 21, 2023
Pierrots pop up where you might least expect them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2020
And for decades, Kate Moss has been imprinted on nearly everyone’s mental screen saver as a languorously gaunt, plump-lipped houri with an expression of cryptic jadedness that recalls one of those umber-eyed Parisian Pierrots.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2012
Isn’t it odd to think that the people there are going about just as usual; and next summer the Pierrots will come again, and we shall all be so far away?
From Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing by Page, Gertrude
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.
