clown

noun \ ˈklau̇n \

|Updated on: 18 Aug 2018

Definition of clown

1 : farmer, countryman

2 : a rude ill-bred person : boor

3 a : 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 1b

See clown defined for English-language learners

See clown defined for kids

Examples of clown in a Sentence

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 of clown from the Web

Floats, classic cars, clowns and politicians (lots of politicians) took part in the Lenexa parade.

— cortlynn stark, hana muslic, katie bernard and edward mckinley, kansascity, "From Prairie Village to Parkville, KC area celebrates the Fourth," 4 July 2018
The performance is introduced and regularly interrupted, in Italian, by Francesca Sara Toich as an antic deep-voiced commedia-style clown.

— christopher arnott, courant.com, "A Mesmerizing 'Merchant Of Venice' As Arts & Ideas Hits Its Stride," 21 June 2018
The dead included a lion tamer, strongmen, a trapeze artist and clowns, along with workers who set up and broke down the traveling Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, one of the biggest in the U.S. at the time.

— john jurgensen, WSJ, "A Century Later, a Train Wreck Brings a Fraternal Order Together," 12 June 2018
Family-friendly activities such as a bouncy house and slide, petting zoo, exotic petting zoo, kiddie train, clowns, face-painters and more.

— detroit free press staff, Detroit Free Press, "Celebrate Cinco de Mayo all week in southwest Detroit," 23 Apr. 2018
Or the time Sarah Paulson couldn't handle this clown.

— christopher rosa, Glamour, "Definitive Proof That Ellen DeGeneres Is the True Queen of Pranks," 1 Apr. 2018
Salmon proved to be another stretch and a miss, nicely cooked but smothered with maple glaze that hung around like a clown at a birthday party.

— mike sutter, San Antonio Express-News, "Review: The Winchester British pub fires blanks on Broadway," 21 June 2018
The bar is known best for its pole dancing, stiff drinks and pictures of clowns on the walls.

— jenn harris, latimes.com, "From In-N-Out to Chateau Marmont, Anthony Bourdain understood what makes L.A. great," 8 June 2018
There’s a pre-show snowball fight between the audience and one of Cirque’s clowns that’s a good reason to show up early.

— OregonLive.com, "Cirque du Soleil's 'Crystal' skates on thin ice despite standout moments: Review," 5 Apr. 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.

Origin and Etymology of clown

probably of Low German origin; akin to Frisian klönne clumsy fellow, Old English clyne lump of metal

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First Known Use: 1563

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

clown Synonyms

Synonyms

beast, boor, cad, churl, creep, cur, dog, heel, jerk, joker, louse, lout, pill, rat, reptile, scum, skunk, slob, snake, stinker, swine, varmint, vermin;

Near Antonyms

hero, heroine, idol, role model;

gentleman, lady;

angel, saint;

loudmouth, vulgarian;

lowlife, miscreant, rascal, rogue, roughneck, scab, scamp, scoundrel, villain, wretch;

booby, fool, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, nut;

airhead, birdbrain, blockhead, dolt, dope, dork [slang], goon, half-wit, idiot, imbecile, moron, turkey;

Phrases

son of a gun;

clown

verb

Definition of clown

clowned; clowning; clowns

intransitive verb

: to act as or like a clown

always clowning around

See clown defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of clown from the Web

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
When Malenkov asks whatever became of a former colleague, a pall draws over the room, until Beria and Khrushchev begin clowning around to distract Stalin from his potentially lethal rage.

— christopher orr, The Atlantic, "The Death of Stalin Is a Wicked Farce," 16 Mar. 2018
But Groucho was also an accomplished crowd-worker, and this was the bulk of the show, as Ferrante-as-Groucho clowned with audience members.

— john timpane, Philly.com, "Frank Ferrante in 'Groucho': A loving look at a comic hero (and crowd-worker)," 19 Feb. 2018

First Known Use of clown

1599

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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CLOWN Defined for English Language Learners

clown

noun

Definition of clown for English Language Learners

: someone who performs in a circus, who wears funny clothes and makeup, and who tries to make people laugh
: someone who often does funny things to make people laugh
: a rude or stupid person