Buffoon vs Clown - What's the difference?
buffoon | clown | Synonyms |
One who acts in a silly or ridiculous fashion; a clown or fool.
* Melmoth
(pejorative) An unintentionally ridiculous person.
To behave like a
* {{quote-news, 1988, January 22, Henry Sheehan, Little Boy Blue, Chicago Reader
, passage=His mimicry of gay speech and facial expressions is analagous to an Amos 'n' Andy routine, in which white men buffooned their way through incredibly demeaning impersonations of black men.}}
A performance artist often associated with a circus and typically characterised by bright, oversized clothing, a red nose, face paint, and a brightly colored wig and who performs slapstick.
A person who acts in a silly fashion.
(UK) A stupid person.
(obsolete) A man of coarse nature and manners; an awkward fellow; an illbred person; a boor.
(obsolete) One who works upon the soil; a rustic; a churl.
* Cowper
Clown is a synonym of buffoon.
As nouns the difference between buffoon and clown
is that buffoon is one who acts in a silly or ridiculous fashion; a clown or fool while clown is a performance artist often associated with a circus and typically characterised by bright, oversized clothing, a red nose, face paint, and a brightly colored wig and who performs slapstick.As verbs the difference between buffoon and clown
is that buffoon is to behave like a buffoon while clown is to act in a silly fashion.buffoon
English
Noun
(en noun)- To divert the audience with buffoon postures and antic dances.
Usage notes
* In the United States the term is used most commonly to describe inappropriate, clownish figures on the public stage; here the behavior of a variety of public figures have caused them to be described as buffoons by their political opponents. * In the UK the term is used more broadly, to describe such people who are held in popular regard but who nevertheless engender amusement with their pronouncements and acts.Derived terms
* buffooneryVerb
(en verb)citation
clown
English
Noun
(wikipedia clown) (en noun)- (Sir Philip Sidney)
- The clown , the child of nature, without guile.