Zany vs Serious - What's the difference?
zany | serious |
unusual and bizarre in a funny, comical way; outlandish; clownish
ludicrously or incongruously comical
(obsolete) A fool or clown. Especially one whose business on the stage was to imitate foolishly the actions of the principal clown
* John Donne
* Alexander Pope
* 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4
Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition; earnest; thoughtful; solemn.
Important; weighty; not trifling; leaving no room for play; needing great attention; critical.
Really intending what is said; being in earnest; not jesting or deceiving; meaningful.
As adjectives the difference between zany and serious
is that zany is unusual and bizarre in a funny, comical way; outlandish; clownish while serious is without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition; earnest; thoughtful; solemn.As a noun zany
is (obsolete) a fool or clown especially one whose business on the stage was to imitate foolishly the actions of the principal clown.zany
English
Adjective
(er)Synonyms
* wackyDerived terms
* zaninessNoun
(zanies)- Then write that I may follow, and so be / Thy echo, thy debtor, thy foil, thy zany .
- Preacher at once, and zany of thy age.
- So there he caught me lying like a zany on the ground. You may guess I stood at attention soon enough, but told him I was looking at the founds to see if they wanted underpinning from the floods.
References
* 1949', John Dover Wilson (compiler), ' Life in Shakespeare's England. A Book of Elizabethan Prose , Cambridge at the University Press. 1st ed. 1911, 2nd ed. 1913, 8th reprint. In Glossary and Notesserious
English
Adjective
(en-adj)- It was a surprise to see the captain, who had always seemed so serious , laugh so heartily.
- This is a serious problem. We'll need our best experts.
- After all these years, we're finally getting serious attention.