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
clowned; clowning; clowns
: to act as or like a clown
always clowning around
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
Verb
as a youngster he was always clowning around in the classroom
Recent Examples on the Web
Alex Schechter, Travel + Leisure, 14 Aug. 2025
Guests were surrounded by a surreal landscape of vanishing walls, floating furniture, and a creepy clown with a menacing smile.
—Simon Thompson, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 15 Aug. 2025
Fans are clowning back at their favorite pop star's showmanship.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clown
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Noun
Carnival Midway’s cast of trapeze artists, aerialists, jugglers and clowns perform every hour on the half hour, starting at 1:30 p.m. (on weekends, the show kicks off at 11:30a.m.).
—Alex Schechter, Travel + Leisure, 14 Aug. 2025
Guests were surrounded by a surreal landscape of vanishing walls, floating furniture, and a creepy clown with a menacing smile.
—Simon Thompson, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
Verb
The pie shoved in Anthony’s face by his lover, Giuseppe, felt like a neat distillation of how crudely the series seemed to clown its characters, week after week after week.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 15 Aug. 2025
Fans are clowning back at their favorite pop star's showmanship.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clown
Cite this Entry
“Clown.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clown. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
clown
1 of 2 noun1
: a rude and often stupid person
2
: a performer (as in a play or circus) who usually wears funny clothes and makeup and tries to make people laugh
clownish
adjective
ˈklau̇-nish
clownishly
adverb
clownishness
noun
clown
2 of 2 verb
: to act like a clown
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