buffoon
One who performs in a silly or ridiculous fashion; a clown or fool.
Noun
- One who performs in a silly or ridiculous fashion; a clown or fool.
- To divert the audience with buffoon postures and antic dances. - 1810, W. Melmoth, transl., Letters of Pliny:
- An unintentionally ridiculous person.
Origin
From Middle French bouffon, from Italian buffone (“jester”), from buffare (“to puff out the cheeks”), of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Middle High German buffen ("to puff"; > German büffen), Old English pyffan (“to breathe out, blow with the mouth”). More at English puff.
Forms
Derived
buffonize buffoonery buffoonesque buffoonic buffoonish buffoonism buffoonlike buffoonly buffoonry
Verb
- To behave like a buffoon
- His mimicry of gay speech and facial expressions is analogous to an Amos 'n' Andy routine, in which white men buffooned their way through incredibly demeaning impersonations of black men. - 1988 January 22, Henry...