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
  • Irwin knows how to clown an audience, and in this enjoyable, broadly comic interpretation, the buffoonery is at least as much the point as some pointed critiques of modern-day American health care.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Trump’s quarter millennial—featuring overt buffoonery and historic grifting as neighbors—was characteristic of his two presidencies.
    — Ta-Nehisi Coates, Vanity Fair, 12 Oct. 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
  • Five years earlier my brother had gotten married, leaving me home alone without the buffers of his distracted affection, his big brotherly insouciance, his rebellious indifference to the emotional chasm widening between our parents.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
  • 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
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 30 Oct. 2026.

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