juggler
Americannoun
-
a person who performs juggling feats, as with balls or knives.
-
a person who deceives by trickery; trickster.
noun
-
a person who juggles, esp a professional entertainer
-
a person who fraudulently manipulates facts or figures
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of juggler
before 1100; Middle English jogelour, jogeler, jugelour < Anglo-French jogelour, jugelur, Old French jogleor, jougleor ( see jongleur) ≪ Latin joculātor joker, equivalent to joculā ( rī ) ( see juggle) + -tor -tor; replacing Old English gēogelere magician, cognate with German Gaukler, both directly < Latin, as above
Explanation
A juggler is someone who can toss and catch several objects at once, always keeping at least one of them in the air at any given moment. If you want to become a juggler, try juggling tennis balls instead of fiery torches. Watching a juggler perform can be awe-inspiring, especially if she's juggling knives or some other dangerous set of objects. You can become a juggler simply by learning to juggle, and professional jugglers can work for circuses or perform for money at festivals and street fairs. Juggler, jester, and wizard all once shared a meaning as well as a root, the Old English geogelere, "magician or conjurer."
Vocabulary lists containing juggler
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.
A juggler too advanced for the circus, language’s great folk hero.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026
Performance and illusion are recurring themes: A woman is sawed in half in a depiction of classic stagecraft; elsewhere a juggler manipulates ovoids that each contain an everyday vignette.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
There was a rock band, strobe lights, and a juggler.
From Slate • Dec. 23, 2025
So now I'm a writer and a hustler: coach, software entrepreneur, ghostwriter, teacher, juggler — my decision.
From Salon • Oct. 14, 2024
“How would a juggler know about such matters?” someone asked.
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
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.
