Punchinello
Americannoun
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a grotesque or absurd chief character in a puppet show of Italian origin: the prototype of Punch.
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any similarly grotesque or absurd person or thing.
noun
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a type of clown from Italian burlesque or puppet shows, the prototype of Punch
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(sometimes not capital) any grotesque or absurd character
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Punchinello
1660–70; < Italian (Naples dial.) polecenella character in the puppet show, diminutive of polecana turkey-cock chick < Late Latin pullicēnus, derivative of Latin pullus pullet
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:
The work features Punchinello, the hook-nosed, humpbacked clowns who were some of the stock characters taken from the Commedia dell' Arte - an early form of professional theatre.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2021
In Clowns, he flashes the frozen, mocking smile of the eternal Punchinello, the sad slapstick hero bested by a world beyond his control.
From Time Magazine Archive
Punchinello LaGuardia led with his chin again last week, this time got it punched by various assorted clergymen.
From Time Magazine Archive
Victor Herbert devotees may be surprised, too, to hear words sung to such instrumental pieces as Al Fresco, Punchinello, Yesterthoughts.
From Time Magazine Archive
In profile she resembles a cute Punchinello, her cheeks expressive, painted, and the nose carved for comic effect.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Last week, at the famed Punch Round Table, the ghosts of onetime Punchinellos Tennyson, Thackeray and Mark Lemon might have quit the premises in disgust.
From Time Magazine Archive
Lobster claws make up as Punchinellos, or as old men and women, or — as exhibited at the Fisheries — handles of fish-knives and forks, tops of inkstands, paper weights, etc..
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.
