clown
/ˈklæʊ̯n//ˈklaʊ̯n/
clown noun: 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.
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Noun
clown (plural clowns)
- 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.
- Apart from the many instances in which Stalin himself held the top position-as philosopher, theoretician, statesman, strategist, economist, etc.--it was known, for example, who was the greatest painter, biologist, or circus clown.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozkład (in...
- Over there in Norway, the churches all burn down / Let's go dress in goth clothes and get painted like a clown2008, Lich King, “Black Metal Sucks”, in Toxic Zombie Onslaught
- A person who acts in a silly fashion.
- He was regarded as the clown of the school, always playing pranks.
- A stupid person.
- "The dealers snatched at the state of intellectual exhaustion and scepticism of all values that followed the first world war to abolish values and substitute for them an arbitrary mumbo-jumbo of occultism and pseudo-Freudianism, which they tagged on to the works of studio clowns like Picasso and...1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 81
- Doc Bruce Banner, belted by gamma rays,
Turns into the Hulk – Ain’t he unglamour-rays! [unglamorous]
Wreckin’ the town with the power of a bull,
Ain’t no monster, clown. Who is as lovable
As ever-lovin’ Hulk? - Hulk! Hulk!1966, “The Incredible Hulk (theme song)”, Jacques Urbont (lyrics) (The Marvel Super Heroes (television series))
- A man of coarse nature and manners; an awkward fellow; an illbred person; a boor.
- This loutish clown is such that you never saw so ill - favoured a vizara. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London...
- […] three things ought always to be kept under: a mastiff dog, a stone horse and a clown; and really I think a snarling, cross-grained clown to be the most unlucky beast of three.1700, Timothy Nourse, Campania Foelix, pages 15–16
- One who works upon the soil; a rustic; a churl; a yokel.
- The clown, the child of nature, without guile.1782–1785, William Cowper, “(please specify the page)”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC
- He […] began to descend to familiar questions, endeavouring to accommodate his discourse to the grossness of rustic understandings. The clowns soon found that he did not know wheat from rye, and began to despise him; one of the boys, by pretending to show him a bird's nest, decoyed him into a...August 25, 1759, Samuel Johnson, The Idler No. 71
- A clownfish.
- While the tomato clownfish Amphiprion frenatus has been spawned in captivity, wild-caught tomato clowns are more often seen for sale.2006, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, volume 54, numbers 5-8, page 32
Verb
clown (third-person singular simple present clowns, present participle clowning, simple past and past participle clowned)
- To act in a silly or playful fashion.
- Except for Rasheena, the rest of the baby mamas was at least struggling to live halfway right. They used to clown and act shitty whenever they came by Noojie's and saw Carmiesha there. But every last one of them ended up being grateful to her for the things she did for their kids.2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 128
- To ridicule, make fun of.
- The show Dismissed was one of my favorites, because I like to see people get clowned.2002, Vibe, volume 10, number 11, page 62
- All my comrades were laughing and clowning me, but shit, that didn't stop me from talking more shit.2017, Darrell Smith, Miracle Baby
- Synonyms:
- clown on
clown meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
clown in Hindi
- performance artist working in a circus
- विदूषक vidūṣak, जोकर jokar
clown in Tamil
- கோமாளி
clown in Marathi
- performance artist working in a circus
- जोकर jokar
clown in Urdu
- performance artist working in a circus
- مَسْخَرَہ masxara, مَسْخَرا masxarā, جوکَر jokar
- person acting in a silly fashion
- مَسْخَرَہ masxara, مَسْخَرا masxarā, بھانْڈ bhānḍ, جوکَر jokar, مَخَولِیا maxauliyā
More languagesFewer languages
- clown in Bengali
- ভাঁড়, রসিক
- clown in Malayalam
- കോമാളി kōmāḷi
- clown in Kannada
- ಕಡ್ಡ, ಕೋಡಂಗಿ, ನಕಲಿಗಾರ, ಬಫೂನ್
- clown in Gujarati
- રંગલો raṅglo
- clown in Sanskrit
- रङ्गल raṅgala
- clown in Pashto
- مسخره masxará, مسخره باز masxara bãz, دوړه مار doṛa mãr, مسخرچي masxaračí
- clown in Tagalog
- payaso
- clown in Arabic
- مُهَرِّج muharrij
- clown in Malay
- badut
- clown in Indonesian
- badut
- clown in Thai
- ตัวตลก dtuua-dtà-lòk
- clown in Vietnamese
- hề
- clown in Myanmar
- လူပြက် lu-prak
Examples of clown in a sentence
- Everything’s on the table, the specs are there in the RFP and can’t be changed by some clown in the Air Force who happens to come up with a new idea.2013, Kim Stanley Robinson, The Gold Coast: Three Californias (Wild Shore Triptych; 2), Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 122:
- The clowns soon found that he did not know wheat from rye, and began to despise him; one of the boys, by pretending to show him a bird's nest, decoyed him into a ditch; […]August 25, 1759, Samuel Johnson, The Idler No. 71
Synonyms of clown
Forms of clown
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | clowns |
| alternative form (obsolete) | clowne |
| alternative form (obsolete) | cloyne |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | clowns |
| present participle | clowning |
| past participle | clowned |
| past | clowned |
Origin of clown
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. Alternatively, directly from Low German (compare North Frisian klönne (“clumsy fellow, klutz”), Dutch kluns (“clumsy fellow, klutz”), Dutch kloen (“uncouth person, lout”)), themselves from the same ultimate source as above. Unlikely from Latin colōnus (“colonist, farmer”), although learned awareness of this term may have influenced semantic development.
Words formed from clown
- assclown
- ass clown
- beclown
- class clown
- clownage
- clown anemone
- clown beetle
- clown car
- clown-car primary
- clowncel
- clown college
- clowncore
- clown doctor
- clowndom
- clownery
- clowness
- clownette
- clownfish
- clown fish
- clownhood
- clown horn
- clowniness
- clownish
- clownism
- clownless
- clownlike
- clownly
- clown mantis shrimp
- clownness
- clown nose
- clownology
- clown prince
- clown princess
- clown school
- clownship
- clown shoe
- clown show
- clownstep
- clown therapy
- clown world
- clussy
- hippie clown
- laughing clown
- rodeo clown
- sea clown
- zioclown
- clown about
- clown around
- clownophobia
Phrases with clown
- clown on
- clown cars
- clown horns
- clown noses
- clown shoes
- clown shows
- clown worlds
- orange clown
- clown beetles
- clown doctors
- clown princes
- clown schools
2 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with clown
19 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about clown
- What does clown mean?
- Clown means 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.
- What is clown in Hindi?
- Clown in Hindi is विदूषक (vidūṣak), जोकर (jokar). See Clown meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use clown in a sentence?
- Everything’s on the table, the specs are there in the RFP and can’t be changed by some clown in the Air Force who happens to come up with a new idea.
- What part of speech is clown?
- Clown can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce clown?
- Clown is pronounced /ˈklaʊ̯n/ (UK).
- What is the plural of clown?
- The plural of clown is clowns.
Words near clown in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: clown (page history and authors); clown (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); clown (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); clown (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); રંગલો (Gujarati) (page history and authors); रङ्गल (Sanskrit) (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-clown.wav.
Cite this entry: “clown.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clown. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.