Buffoon vs Droll - What's the difference?
buffoon | droll |
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.}}
oddly humorous; whimsical, amusing in a quaint way; waggish
(archaic) A buffoon
* , Episode 12, The Cyclops
(archaic) To joke, to jest.
* 1886 , Robert Louise Stevenson, Kidnapped
As nouns the difference between buffoon and droll
is that buffoon is one who acts in a silly or ridiculous fashion; a clown or fool while droll is a buffoon.As verbs the difference between buffoon and droll
is that buffoon is to behave like a buffoon while droll is to joke, to jest.As an adjective droll is
oddly humorous; whimsical, amusing in a quaint way; waggish.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
droll
English
Adjective
(er)Synonyms
* See alsoDerived terms
* drollery * drolly * drollnessNoun
(en noun)- Our two inimitable drolls did a roaring trade with their broadsheets among lovers of the comedy element and nobody who has a corner in his heart for real Irish fun without vulgarity will grudge them their hardearned pennies.
Verb
(en verb)- "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?