clown

noun

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\ ˈklau̇n

Definition of clown

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : farmer, countryman

2 : a rude ill-bred person : boor

3a : a fool, jester, or comedian in an entertainment (such as a play) specifically : a grotesquely dressed comedy performer in a circus

b : a person who habitually jokes and plays the buffoon

c : joker sense 1b

clown

verb

clowned; clowning; clowns

Definition of clown (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

: to act as or like a clown always clowning around

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about clown

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Examples of clown in a Sentence

Noun Those big shoes make you look like a clown! Who's the clown standing in the middle of the road? those clowns at the state capital

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Perhaps no other genre epitomized that wasteland as much as children’s programs, a point Agrelo supports with a cringe-worthy montage of snippets that include Soupy Sales mugging and a joyless clown selling Tootsie Rolls. — BostonGlobe.com, "‘Street’ smarts, ‘Towns’ team, Down East dispatches," 21 Apr. 2021 In the 10th, the benches cleared when Dodger pitcher Dennis Santana plunked Jorge Mateo, who must feel like the dunk-tank clown at the county fair in the last week. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Wild Padres-Dodgers opener sign of budding rivalry," 17 Apr. 2021 Though Avani Gregg may have gotten her social media start carrying off high-drama looks designed for a literal clown, her everyday routine is far more subtle—and equally well-executed. — Calin Van Paris, Vogue, "Avani Gregg’s Official Guide to Everyday Makeup," 23 Mar. 2021 Ricardo González Gutiérrez, the beloved Mexican clown known as Cepillín who was watched by generations of children throughout Latin America, died on March 8 in Mexico City. — New York Times, "Cepillín, a Clown Beloved Across Latin America, Is Dead at 75," 19 Mar. 2021 Robin Williams as a clown-nosed doctor healing sick children with the power of laughter was ripe for skewering from critics for being a pandering, irritating comedy. — Joe Reid, Vulture, "The Academy vs. Rotten Tomatoes: Remembering the Lowest-Rated Oscar Nominees," 30 Mar. 2021 Miko can spontaneously start dancing or turn into a clown in the middle of an interview, depending on what the viewers demand. — Adam Epstein, Quartz, "The talk show host of the future is a 3D video game character on Twitch," 28 Mar. 2021 One of them was Louis Cole, who is precisely as skilled a drummer as the anonymous clown-percussionist in Clown Core. — Randall Roberts, Los Angeles Times, "52 songs, four hours, one album: How jazz trickster Sam Gendel made a pandemic opus," 24 Mar. 2021 Gregg's popularity is sensical: Her trademark clown creations typically take up to six hours to conceptualize and create. — Calin Van Paris, Vogue, "Avani Gregg’s Official Guide to Everyday Makeup," 23 Mar. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The internet, righteous in its bitterness, immediately began to clown the man and his WandaVision cosplay, but Uzi logged on to explain that the diamond is actually centered, brokies. — Zoe Haylock, Vulture, "Lil Uzi Vert Pierced His Forehead With a $24 Million Pink Diamond," 3 Feb. 2021 The song that gave the entire United Kingdom a chance to clown on Taylor Swift, which is the best gift the nation has received from an American since FDR’s Lend-Lease program. — Nate Jones, Vulture, "All 179 Taylor Swift Songs, Ranked," 11 Jan. 2021 Even McCarthy clowned him by imitating the eldest Kardashian’s famously monotone voice. — Rachel Yang, EW.com, "The worst guesses on The Masked Singer season 3 so far," 3 Apr. 2020 This particular compound of grandiosity and insecurity is an artisanal microbrew, and McElhenney does good work clowning his eyebrows into attitudes expressive of pure contempt and unsteady comprehension. — Troy Patterson, The New Yorker, "The Sweet, Silly “Mythic Quest” Is “The Office” for Game Developers," 7 Feb. 2020 There’s one acceptable outcome to their season, and reality-check losses like this one help them get closer to that a lot more than starting 8-0 by clowning clueless teams like Washington, the Jets, and the Browns. — BostonGlobe.com, "In the long run, they’ll be better for it.," 5 Nov. 2019 That didn’t stop fans from clowning Bosa after the 49ers loss. — cleveland, "49ers’ Nick Bosa roasted after missing out on meeting Trump," 3 Feb. 2020 However, not everyone who lives near the location is thrilled with the Joker fans clowning around. — Georgia Slater, PEOPLE.com, "The Stairs in Joker Have Become a N.Y.C. Tourist Destination — and Some Locals Aren't Happy," 23 Oct. 2019 Meanwhile on Instagram, people were getting their popcorn ready and literally clowning Trump and others. — Lucy Diavolo, Teen Vogue, "Here Are the Juiciest Donald Trump Impeachment Memes We Could Find," 25 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'clown.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.