clown

noun

\ 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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Synonyms for clown

Synonyms: Noun

buffo, buffoon, harlequin, zany

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

Sometimes, the drag star posts are out of a horror movie: Think, a cheerful Ronald McDonald clown now with saber teeth, his yellow costume shredded into a half-shirt for a bondage flair. — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, "Charity Kase Is the London Drag Star Whipping Up Fantastical Looks," 5 Sep. 2018 Surveillance video released by the police department shows five men wearing hoodies and one wearing a clown mask entering the game room around 4 a.m. in the 3200 block of North Beach Street Wednesday. — William Axford, Houston Chronicle, "Police: Men stormed Fort Worth game room, robbed customers and shot woman," 15 Feb. 2018 As if this movie didn't have enough horrifying clowns already! — Chanel Vargas, Good Housekeeping, "10 Extremely Chilling Things You Didn't Notice While Watching IT," 6 Oct. 2017 Schools bought out entire theaters to see this idealized version of global society, and kids saw heroes like them fighting an evil far more real than a monster from another planet or a nihilist clown. — Matt Miller, Esquire, "Winston Duke Had Marvel's Greatest Introduction," 21 Feb. 2018 References to clowns, those happy/sad jesters of these traveling troupes, extended beyond the makeup to the clothes, some of which featured ruffs and harlequin patterns. — Laird Borrelli-persson, Vogue, "Fashion Loves a Clown: Here, 24 Big Top Looks That Prove It From Dior Haute Couture to Alexander McQueen," 21 Jan. 2019 With its strong sense of place and some seriously scary clowns, Hell House LLC is a nice compendium to last year’s huge horror hit. — Dylan Scott, Vox, "13 found-footage horror movies actually worth watching this Halloween," 19 Oct. 2018 For the past three decades, Cirque du Soleil has created unique circus experiences, with eye-popping choreography, clowns, costumes, acrobatics, music, and special effects. — Terry Byrne, BostonGlobe.com, "In Cirque’s ‘Luzia,’ rainfall bathes a Mexican dreamscape," 27 June 2018 There’s still the clowns, the jugglers, the almost freakish things. — Kathryn Shattuck, New York Times, "Kevin Costner Revisits the American West, Now by Helicopter," 8 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

This is not just a bunch of clowns getting clowned. — Zan Romanoff, Vox, "What we get wrong about multilevel marketing, explained by the host of the popular podcast about it," 30 Nov. 2018 Now, that's skewed a little from clowning Vancouver 11-on-9 last weekend, and nobody else has played more matches than Sporting. — Sam Mellinger, kansascity, "Mellinger Minutes: Moose and the Royals' rare pace, Chiefs' draft, and one more Bud Lathrop story | The Kansas City Star," 24 Apr. 2018 Despite getting knocked out of the playoffs, Lance Stephenson is still here to clown J.R. Smith on Instagram. — Dakota Crawford, Indianapolis Star, "After J.R. Smith's Game 1 blunder, Lance Stephenson drops an Instagram burn," 1 June 2018 Seems as if the airlines are still clowning and being targeted with lawsuits because of the clownery. — Breanna Edwards, The Root, "Nigerian Woman, Who Was Removed From United Flight After a White Passenger Complained She Was ‘Pungent,’ Files Lawsuit," 14 May 2018 Wearing a black polka-dot dress with a signature red lip, Gomez posed for selfies with eager fans and clowned around with some of the youngest in the venue’s photobooth. — Melania Hidalgo, PEOPLE.com, "Selena Gomez Surprises Fans at Hospital Prom — and Sticks Around for Selfies," 25 June 2018 Budda Baker was in Seattle this weekend and attended the UW football spring preview Saturday at Husky Stadium, where he was seen clowning around with his former coaches and teammates. — Mike Carter, The Seattle Times, "Ballard shooting victim reportedly brother of ex-Husky star Budda Baker," 23 Apr. 2018 Minutes earlier, Stern delivered a characteristically bawdy address in honor of the classic New Jersey rockers, giving the band plenty of love while clowning on frontman Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora and Rolling Stone scion Jann Wenner. — Maeve Mcdermott, USA TODAY, "Howard Stern's 10 best Bon Jovi jokes at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction," 14 Apr. 2018 Digital assistants egg on every other appliance in the house to clown around. — Joe Queenan, WSJ, "My Electronic Devices Are Laughing at Me," 22 Mar. 2018

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.