Droll
adj, name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A funny person; a buffoon, a wag. archaic
"The lieutenant was a droll in his way, Peregrine possessed a great fund of sprightliness and good humour, and Godfrey, among his other qualifications already recited, sung a most excellent song […]."
- 2 The ghost of a child, especially one who died a painful death.
"HAMILTON’S HILL, 0.4 m., a little elevation, was the starting point for the races, and is known for a wide variety of ghosts including such fearsome creatures as a 10-foot cat that explodes before the beholder’s eyes, plat-eyes in the guise of three-legged hogs and two-headed cows, boo-daddies, boo-hags, and drolls. The drolls are supposed to be the spirits of infants who died painful deaths."
- 1 To jest, to joke. archaic, intransitive
""Eh, man," said I, drolling with him a little, "you're very ingenious! But would it not be simpler for you to write him a few words in black and white?" / "And that is an excellent observe, Mr. Balfour of Shaws," says Alan, drolling with me; [...]"
- 1 Oddly humorous; whimsical, amusing in a quaint way; waggish.
"Very droll, minister."
- 1 comical in an odd or whimsical manner wordnet
- 1 A surname from German.
Example
More examples"His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath."
Etymology
From French drôle (“comical, odd, funny”), from drôle (“buffoon”) from Middle French drolle (“a merry fellow, pleasant rascal”) from Old French drolle (“one who lives luxuriously”), from Middle Dutch drol (“fat little man, goblin”), itself from Old Norse troll, from Proto-Germanic *truzlą. Doublet of drôle and troll.
Borrowed from German Droll.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.