clown
A slapstick performance artist often associated with a circus and usually characterized by bright, oversized clothing, a red nose, face paint, and a brightly colored wig.
Noun 4 meanings
A slapstick performance artist often associated with a circus and usually characterized by bright, oversized clothing, a red nose, face paint, and a brightly colored wig.
A person who acts in a silly fashion.
“He was regarded as the clown of the school, always playing pranks.”
A stupid person.
A clownfish.
Verb 2 meanings
To act in a silly or playful fashion.
To ridicule, make fun of.
Etymology
From earlier clowne, cloyne (“man of rustic or coarse manners, boor, peasant”); likely of North Germanic origin, akin to Icelandic klunni (“clumsy fellow, klutz”), Swedish kluns (“clumsy fellow”), all from Middle Low German klunz, from klunt (“pile, lump, something thick”); according to Pokorny, this could be related to a group of Germanic derivatives of Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up; amass”), such as Proto-West Germanic *klott (“lump”), Proto-Germanic *klūtaz (“clod, lump”), *kultaz (“lump, bundle”), etc.
Similar and opposite words
CLOWN at a glance
CLOWN has 5 letters and scores 10 points in Scrabble (C 3 + L 1 + O 1 + W 4 + N 1) and 13 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #7,775 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
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