clowning
/ˈklaʊnɪŋ/
clowning noun: clownish behavior. Also the present participle and gerund of clown.
Noun
clowning (countable and uncountable, plural clownings)
- Clownish behavior.
- The press took seriously all Shaw's provocative ambiguities and clownings, and Lady Astor was identified with his most outrageous actions and statements.1961, Lucille Iremonger, And his charming lady, page 205
- The practice and study thereof.
- But it’s also a sign of the ascendant state of clowning, which, not long ago, resided in the bargain basement of artistic respect, alongside ventriloquists, mimes and jugglers. No longer.2025 October 7, Jason Zinoman, “What Clowns! (That’s a Compliment)”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
Also used as
clowning is also the present participle and gerund of clown.
Forms of clowning
| plural | clownings |
|---|
Words formed from clowning
Phrases with clowning
Words that rhyme with clowning
Questions about clowning
- What does clowning mean?
- Clowning means clownish behavior.
- What part of speech is clowning?
- Clowning is a noun.
- How do you pronounce clowning?
- Clowning is pronounced /ˈklaʊnɪŋ/.
- What is the plural of clowning?
- The plural of clowning is clownings.
Words near clowning in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: clowning (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:
Cite this entry: “clowning.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clowning. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.