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 usually colorfully costumed 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
Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 6 Nov. 2025
The woman dressed as a spooky ringmaster while her husband played the part of a creepy clown.
—Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 30 Oct. 2025
In a separate interview on One Night with Steiny, 6ix9ine clowned his longtime foe Lil Tjay for being shot at a Chipotle in New Jersey back in 2022.
—Mackenzie Cummings-Grady, Billboard, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clown
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Noun
The sibling filmmaking duo spent most of the 2010s making a colossal two-part movie adaptation of King’s 1,138-page horror opus about a shapeshifting clown who terrorizes the small town of Derry, Maine.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 6 Nov. 2025
The woman dressed as a spooky ringmaster while her husband played the part of a creepy clown.
—Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
Verb
Stephen King novel that inspired two previous versions, one a TV miniseries with Tim Curry defining the evil clown Pennywise for the ages, the other a two-part theatrical release in 2017 and 2019, of which the first part was much better than the second.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 30 Oct. 2025
In a separate interview on One Night with Steiny, 6ix9ine clowned his longtime foe Lil Tjay for being shot at a Chipotle in New Jersey back in 2022.
—Mackenzie Cummings-Grady, Billboard, 24 Oct. 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 10 Nov. 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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