as in cutting up
to engage in attention-getting playful or boisterous behavior
as a youngster he was always clowning around in the classroom
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clowning (around)
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
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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
Verb
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The small-model approach was echoed by researchers at Samsung AI Lab last week, who released a paper showing off their Tiny Recursive Model.—
Sharon Goldman,
Fortune,
15 Oct. 2025
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The whole crew takes pride in showing off the ship.—
Eve Chen,
USA Today,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Its general sensibility seems more Superstore than The Office, down to the interstitial montages of customers acting up in the perpetually overcrowded waiting room.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Oct. 2025
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Sturm said his back started acting up after the team’s first practice.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Clowning (around).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clowning%20%28around%29. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.
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