Word.ws English Dictionary

a few clowns short of a circus

US/ə fju klaʊnz ʃɔɹt əv ə sɜɹkəs/

a few clowns short of a circus is the alternative form of few sandwiches short of a picnic.

Meaning of few sandwiches short of a picnic

Phrase

few sandwiches short of a picnic

  1. (idiomatic) Exhibiting disquiet or unsoundness of mind; not sane; mad.
    • I think the lady down the road is a few sandwiches short of a picnic—you often hear strange bangings at odd hours in the morning.

Questions about a few clowns short of a circus

What is a few clowns short of a circus the alternative form of?
A few clowns short of a circus is the alternative form of few sandwiches short of a picnic.
How do you pronounce a few clowns short of a circus?
A few clowns short of a circus is pronounced /ə fju klaʊnz ʃɔɹt əv ə sɜɹkəs/ (US).

Words near a few clowns short of a circus in the dictionary

  1. a fair few
  2. a far remove
  3. a far sight
  4. a fault confessed is half redressed
  5. a few
  6. a few clowns short of a circus
  7. a few fries short of a Happy Meal
  8. a few roos loose in the top paddock
  9. a few spanners short of a tool box
  10. A final
  11. A finals

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: a few clowns short of a circus (page history and authors); few sandwiches short of a picnic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-a few clowns short of a circus.wav.

Cite this entry: “a few clowns short of a circus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/a_few_clowns_short_of_a_circus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.