Buffoon vs Idiot - What's the difference?
buffoon | idiot |
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.}}
(pejorative) A person of low general intelligence.
(obsolete, medicine, psychology) A person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old.
Idiot is a synonym of buffoon.
In pejorative terms the difference between buffoon and idiot
is that buffoon is an unintentionally ridiculous person while idiot is a person of low general intelligence.As nouns the difference between buffoon and idiot
is that buffoon is one who acts in a silly or ridiculous fashion; a clown or fool while idiot is a person of low general intelligence.As a verb buffoon
is to behave like a buffoon.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
idiot
English
Alternative forms
* eejit * idjit, idget (eye dialect)Noun
(en noun)- usage note This may be used pejoratively, as an insult. It is a weak insult, however, and between close friends, family members, or lovers, is often completely nonaggressive.