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
Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 15 July 2025
The zanier time-traveling meta sequel ups his hallmark lampooning game, while also methodically redefining how funny and completely messed up these flicks could be.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 10 July 2025
The shoot-em-up RPG features zany boss fights, hilarious and over-the-top toilet humor, and a ridiculous amount of guns to choose from.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 July 2025
Something may snap inside you, causing a radical shift in your value systems when zany Uranus enters Gemini on July 7.
—Liz Simmons, StyleCaster, 24 June 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 22 Jul. 2025.
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zany
2 of 2 adjective
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