Clowning

//ˈklaʊnɪŋ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Clownish behavior. countable, uncountable

    "The press took seriously all Shaw's provocative ambiguities and clownings, and Lady Astor was identified with his most outrageous actions and statements."

  2. 2
    acting like a clown or buffoon wordnet
  3. 3
    The practice and study thereof. countable, uncountable

    "But it’s also a sign of the ascendant state of clowning, which, not long ago, resided in the bargain basement of artistic respect, alongside ventriloquists, mimes and jugglers. No longer."

  4. 4
    a comic incident or series of incidents wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of clown form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms
buffoonerybuffooneryclowneryclowning aroundcomedydrollery

Example

More examples

"Tom was clowning around at the party last night."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.