clownishness

noun

Definition of clownishnessnext
1
as in boorishness

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2
as in buffoonery

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for clownishness
  1. brutishness
  2. buffoonery
  3. churlishness
  4. jocularity
  5. rusticity
  6. flippancy
  7. rowdiness
  8. insouciance
Noun
  • Generations of agents, therefore, have had to walk a line between bookishness and brutishness.
    — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
  • But the brutishness has merely relocated, to places far more dangerous.
    — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
Definition of brutishness
Noun
  • Still, there's a remarkable level of buffoonery in his analysis.
    — Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The show, with its interest in corporate buffoonery, doesn’t quite manage to hand-wave away the queasy implications.
    — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
Definition of buffoonery
Noun
  • Apologies for any churlishness, but those in and around the club will be relieved to have removed an annoying factoid from Amorim’s 11-month tenure.
    — Carl Anka, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
Definition of churlishness
Noun
  • Or maybe he was lured into his thoughtless comments because of the jocularity inside that room full of reporters.
    — Candace Buckner, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
  • For all his jocularity, the charges against Doyle are serious, carrying a potential sentence of six years in prison.
    — Emily Witt, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of jocularity
Noun
  • The handloom process produces layered, tactile surfaces that celebrate rawness and rusticity.
    — Allison Hatfield, Dallas Morning News, 17 Mar. 2026
  • At the center of the ranch is a 5,800-square-foot lodge that combines classic Rocky Mountain rusticity with Old World European elegance.
    — Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 22 Sep. 2025
Definition of rusticity
Noun
  • Or how being late or canceling at the last minute is treated with less flippancy than in America.
    — Catherine Heald, Travel + Leisure, 22 June 2026
  • Spaar’s colloquial flippancies only reinforces her fervency.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 May 2026
Definition of flippancy
Noun
  • The disdain goes back decades and, as some Argentina fans evidently proved Tuesday, rowdiness does not require international provocation.
    — Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 15 July 2026
  • That’s how the game should be remembered, not for the rowdiness in the streets from people who use violence to express happiness.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 12 June 2026
Definition of rowdiness
Noun
  • In the years since, she’s built a cult following for her whimsical knits in distinctive shades and cut with a certain SoCal insouciance.
    — Max Berlinger, Vogue, 14 Sep. 2026
  • As Chris, a veteran CIA assassin with terminal cancer whose memory also seems to be going, Malkovich demonstrates a sinister insouciance that at first looks like psycho gloating.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of insouciance
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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clownish
clownishness
clowns
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Cite this Entry

“Clownishness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clownishness. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

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