carny

noun

car·​ny ˈkär-nē 

variants or carney or carnie

plural carnies or carneys

often attributive

1

: carnival sense 3a

2

: a person who works with a carnival

Examples of carny in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And that corpse really gets around, in carny museums and in the sideshow accompanying a transcontinental race and then in a couple of schlock movies. —Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025

As fun as watching modern-day WWE shows is, doing a deep dive into wrestling's weird, sometimes tragic history and carny origins gives you a deeper respect for how much wrestlers and the business have evolved since the early 20th century. —Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 7 Mar. 2025

The carny’s clockwork arrival honored an event even kids as small as Pontiac knew. —Carly Tagen-Dye, Peoplemag, 7 May 2024

The rock-and-roll manager proper, or improper, really begins with Elvis Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, the former carny with the omnipresent cigar, nodding, winking, and fanning his latest flame into a global conflagration. —Andrew O’Hagan, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1933, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for carny

• barney
• carney
• killarney