as in joking
wildly playful or mischievous behavior
our coworker's clowning was distracting, but fun to watch
Synonyms & Similar Words
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1
as in masquerading
Related Words
2
as in cutting up
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Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of clowning
Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
As with older clowning traditions, the early American circus clowns were adults performing taboo acts to shock and delight other adults.
—Time, 30 Oct. 2025
Finally, after plenty of clowning, Taylor Swift has revealed that her 12th album is on the way, titled The Life of a Showgirl.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2025
This is a work in which the slapstick clowning and the tricky verbal non sequiturs should be merely the surface for roiling undercurrents of anguish, futility, despair and fear.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Noun
Art, meanwhile, occupies a lonely table in the pizzeria and tries to put on his best clowning act for the two women.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
As with older clowning traditions, the early American circus clowns were adults performing taboo acts to shock and delight other adults.
—Time, 30 Oct. 2025
Finally, after plenty of clowning, Taylor Swift has revealed that her 12th album is on the way, titled The Life of a Showgirl.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2025
This is a work in which the slapstick clowning and the tricky verbal non sequiturs should be merely the surface for roiling undercurrents of anguish, futility, despair and fear.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clowning
Noun
-
Self was in a joking mood when asked about the squad’s stellar defensive play.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
29 Oct. 2025
-
Jones eventually got into his joking bag, and Bleek took that opportunity to seriously set the record straight one last time.—
Armon Sadler,
VIBE.com,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Ford is planning on cutting up to 1,000 roles in electric-vehicle production in Germany.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Proposition 50 would turn back the clock of progress, cutting up our neighborhoods for political gain and silencing the very voices that fought hardest for fairness.—
Bernadette Suarez,
Oc Register,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Maybe that was just art-making imitating life.—
Thomas Page,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
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How does this help democracy, imitating what Texas is doing?—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Since medieval times, the colorful fool—from court jesters to Shakespeare’s characters—has used playful wit to critique authority and buffoonery to whip up excitement.—
Time,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
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Their relationship, tentative, intimate, and defiant, lingers long after the satirical skewering of male buffoonery has faded.—
Leila Latif,
IndieWire,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Jeremy Allen White brilliantly channels The Boss without mimicking him.—
Henry Selick,
IndieWire,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Prescribed burns help clean up forest debris and stimulate new growth, mimicking natural fire patterns in the high country.—
Sarah Henry,
AZCentral.com,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Gisin hopes that by fooling around with measurements of these more exotic states, physicists will come to better understand the role of measurement in general.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
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As for Abdul-Mateen, the clownery will resume for him on Broadway.—
Jessica Wang,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2022
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Tirhakah Love is a senior writer at New York Magazine and the host of the new evening newsletter Dinner Party, a daily email that touches on all things entertainment — that means film, television, music, tech, and gaming — plus politics and corporate clownery.—
Vulture,
Vulture,
29 Apr. 2022
Verb
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Barrymore declared, before miming eating Anderson’s toes.—
Emlyn Travis,
Entertainment Weekly,
17 Oct. 2025
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The Beck-Page Yardbirds appear in that film, miming to the song at a rock club in a performance that culminates with Beck smashing his guitar.—
Jem Aswad,
Variety,
2 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Clowning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clowning. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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