Synonyms of clowning

clowning 1 of 2

noun

as in joking

wildly playful or mischievous behavior

our coworker's clowning was distracting, but fun to watch

Synonyms & Similar Words

• joking
• funning
• buffoonery
• clownery
• tomfoolery
• horseplay
• monkeying
• slapstick
• roughhousing
• skylarking
• roughhouse
• monkey business
• foolery
• playfulness
• high jinks
• horsing around
• monkeyshine(s)
• shenanigan(s)
• silliness
• jesting
• nonsense
• clownishness
• boisterousness
• childishness
• trickery
• mischief
• sporting
• rowdiness
• rambunctiousness
• rowdyism
• foolishness
• frivolity
• roguishness
• rascality
• merrymaking
• cavorting
• frolicking
• waggery
• roistering
• romping
• revelry
• roguery
• mischievousness
• impishness
• sportiveness
• gamboling
• prankishness
• knavery
• devilry
• rumbustiousness

clowning

2 of 2

verb

present participle of clown

1

as in masquerading

Related Words

• masquerading
• imitating
• mimicking
• miming
• aping
• hamming
• posing (as)
• overacting
• enacting
• underplaying
• overplaying
• pantomiming
• acting out
• playacting
• role-playing
• dramatizing
• performing
• starring (in)
• taking on
• acting
• rendering
• playing
• coacting
• interpreting
• representing
• depicting
• impersonating
• costarring
• portraying
• doing

2

as in cutting up

Related Words

• cutting up
• horsing around
• fooling around
• dancing
• carrying on
• carousing
• reveling
• prancing
• roughhousing
• skylarking
• roistering
• leaping
• joyriding
• capering
• cavorting
• hopping
• loping
• kiting
• romping
• skipping
• bounding
• frolicking
• rollicking
• tumbling
• frisking
• sporting
• springing
• larking
• tripping
• curvetting
• gamboling
• disporting

Dissimilar Words

• pouting
• sulking
• stewing
• moping

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of clowning

Noun

On paper, the script didn’t seem that funny, and the looseness of it all — the clowning, the lack of a traditional plot structure — seemed kind of slapdash. — Victor Garber, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026

The clowning might be a little too effortful. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026

As the race unfolds in real time, there’s clowning, collisions, sabotage, surprises, comedy, chaos and more. — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Apr. 2026

With an impressive ability to do accents and a background in clowning, Storrie is made for this. — Tiffany Kelly, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Feb. 2026

The balance is also what clowning is. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 16 Feb. 2026

There’s no grandstanding, no frantic clowning. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 11 Feb. 2026

The clowning isn’t over just yet, though. — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 13 Jan. 2026

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