William Gifford
Did you know?
The oddballs among us are likely familiar with zany as an adjective, meaning "eccentric." But did you know the word originated as a noun—one that has withstood the test of time? Zanies have been theatrical buffoons since the heyday of the Italian commedia dell’arte, in which a "zanni" was a stock servant character, often an intelligent and proud valet with abundant common sense and a love of practical jokes. Zanni comes from a dialect nickname for Giovanni, the Italian form of John. The character quickly spread throughout European theater circles, inspiring such familiar characters as Pierrot and Harlequin, and by the late 1500s an anglicized version of the noun zany was introduced to English. The adjective appeared within decades, and eventually both adopted more general meanings to refer to or describe those of us who are quipsters and weirdos.
Examples of zany in a Sentence
Nate Jones, People.com, 11 Aug. 2025
The movie is possibly loud and colorful and zany and kooky and busy enough to mask the desperation in a script that shows little imagination for the psychological hurdles of people from three different generations struggling to understand one another.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 5 Aug. 2025
The show, while fantastical and zany, turns a mirror to the state of society today and invites the audience to look inward.
—Talia McWright, Twin Cities, 3 Aug. 2025
Everyone plays it reliably straight, a contrast that helps the film maintain its zany energy—and, in the spirit of the original trilogy, maximize the number of jokes per minute.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for zany
Cite this Entry
“Zany.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zany. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
zany
2 of 2 adjective
Share