buf·foon

(bə-fo͞on′)

1. A clown; a jester: a court buffoon.

2. A person given to clowning and joking.

3. A ludicrous or bumbling person; a fool.

[French bouffon, from Old Italian buffone, from buffa, jest, from buffare, to puff, of imitative origin.]

buf·foon′er·y (bə-fo͞o′nə-rē) n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

buffoonery - acting like a clown or buffoon

clowning, harlequinade, japery, prank, frivolity

foolery, tomfoolery, lunacy, craziness, folly, indulgence - foolish or senseless behavior

schtick, schtik, shtick, shtik - (Yiddish) a prank or piece of clowning; "his shtik made us laugh"

buffoonery

noun clowning, nonsense, jesting, silliness, tomfoolery, drollery, waggishness music hall buffoonery

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

buffonata pagliacciata

буффонада

buffoonery

[bəˈfuːnərɪ] N → bufonadas fpl

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

buffoonery

[bəˈfuːnəri] (old-fashioned) n → bouffonneries fpl

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

buffoonery

n → Clownerie f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

buffoonery

[bəˈfuːnərɪ] n → buffoneria

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

It was cruel that his extreme unhappiness should have in it something of buffoonery.

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Buffoonery was not entirely expelled [86] from his otherwise grave court.

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Others of them, however, exhibited in the midst of much rough-and-tumble fighting and buffoonery, a slight thread of dramatic action.

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But thither he had come, with a fair granddaughter under his arm; and there, amid all the mirth and buffoonery, stood this stern old figure, the best sustained character in the masquerade, because so well representing the antique spirit of his native land.

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"Buffoonery, tricks, ridicule the test of truth--all that is very well"--here an unpleasant egg broke on Mr.

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``You deal with me better than your word, noble knight,'' whimpered forth poor Wamba, whose habits of buffoonery were not to be overcome even by the immediate prospect of death; ``if you give me the red cap you propose, out of a simple monk you will make a cardinal.''

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At length the London manager was discovered to be asleep, and shortly after that he woke up and went away, whereupon all the company fell foul of the unhappy comic countryman, declaring that his buffoonery was the sole cause; and Mr Crummles said, that he had put up with it a long time, but that he really couldn't stand it any longer, and therefore would feel obliged by his looking out for another engagement.

View in context

If nothing else, Kriss Darlin will be remembered for his buffoonery as the other candidates fade into oblivion.

Kneeling down for politicians is not new, we all do it

No, don't be fooled by his buffoonery. He's dangerous and would make this country even more divided than it is already.

THE BIG QUESTION; YOUR VOICE

A spin-off from the Nickelodeon TV series with no discernible increase in quality, it's a mercifully brief adventure full of harmless buffoonery, bad puns and robot dancing from an, er, giant robot.

PAWPATROL: MIGHTY PUPS (U)