jester
Americannoun
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jesters
plural
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a person who is given to witticisms, jokes, and pranks.
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a professional fool or clown, especially at a medieval court.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of jester
First recorded in 1325–75, jester is from the Middle English word gester. See gest, -er 1
Explanation
A jester is a joker or clown who performs for an audience. Most jesters worked for English kings' courts during medieval and Tudor times. Back in Shakespeare's day, English royals employed many entertainers who performed plays, songs, and other acts for them. Among these professionals was the jester, whose job was keeping the nobles amused. Some jesters would travel in groups, putting on shows in various cities. Fools and jesters appear in many of Shakespeare's plays. The word was originally spelled gestour, which was defined as "a minstrel or teller of tales." The root is the Anglo-Latin gesten, "recite a tale."
Vocabulary lists containing jester
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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:
Working on a serious documentary didn’t stop Jackson from his activities as a harsh and relentless internet jester.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
This jester from an alternative universe seems genuinely concerned about the common, ordinary unhappiness of perfect strangers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2025
Away from the from springtime pastels and prints, Alessandro Michele's debut couture collection was full of clashing colours and harlequin print fit for a court jester.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2025
Can imperfect sidekicks and second-fiddlers like Camelot’s court jester and Sir Palomides, the Saracen knight, save the realm when Arthur reveals himself as all too mortal?
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024
“Crispin,” said Bear, “a wise man—he was a jester by trade—once told me that living by answers is a form of death. It’s only questions that keep you living. What think you of that?”
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
Ollie Rathbone and Sam Smith's goals set up the annual pitch invasion as Wrexham swept aside Charlton to "football in the circus," chants from supporters, some of whom sported jesters hats.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2025
We’re enchanted by the very idea of crenellated ramparts and soaring towers, troubadors, jesters and knights.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2024
Clowns, as pranksters, jesters, jokers, harlequins, and mythologized tricksters have been around for ages.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2023
When Fo won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1997, the Nobel Committee praised him for “emulating the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2022
Bouain watched disinterestedly, like a king with failing jesters.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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.
