CLOWN

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does clown mean? 

• CLOWN (noun)
  The noun CLOWN has 2 senses:

1. a rude or vulgar fool

2. a person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior

  Familiarity information: CLOWN used as a noun is rare.

• CLOWN (verb)
  The verb CLOWN has 1 sense:

1. act as or like a clown

  Familiarity information: CLOWN used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLOWN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A rude or vulgar fool

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

buffoon; clown

Hypernyms ("clown" is a kind of...):

fool; muggins; sap; saphead; tomfool (a person who lacks good judgment)

Instance hyponyms:

Pantaloon (a buffoon in modern pantomimes; the butt of jokes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

buffoon; clown; goof; goofball; merry andrew

Hypernyms ("clown" is a kind of...):

comedian; comic (a professional performer who tells jokes and performs comical acts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clown"):

harlequin (a clown or buffoon (after the Harlequin character in the commedia dell'arte))

fool; jester; motley fool (a professional clown employed to entertain a king or nobleman in the Middle Ages)

whiteface (a clown whose face is covered with white make-up)

zany (a buffoon in one of the old comedies; imitates others for ludicrous effect)

Instance hyponyms:

Emmett Kelly; Kelly; Weary Willie (United States circus clown (1898-1979))

Derivation:

clown (act as or like a clown)

• CLOWN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they clown    ... he / she / it clowns   
Past simple: clowned   
Past participle: clowned   
-ing form: clowning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Act as or like a clown

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

antic; clown; clown around

Hypernyms (to "clown" is one way to...):

jest; joke (act in a funny or teasing way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

clown (a person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior)

clowning (acting like a clown or buffoon)

clowning (a comic incident or series of incidents)

 Context examples 

If this ship of yours must needs dance and skip like a clown at a kermesse, then I pray you that you will put me into one of these galeasses.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Now there is Mr. Joker, one of our clowns, continued the china lady, who is always trying to stand upon his head.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

It may be a dollar, she said, but it is a jester's dollar, the fee of a clown.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“The deer, clowns?” said a hard-visaged, swarthy-faced man, who rode at the king's elbow.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Indeed, a jolly little clown came walking toward them, and Dorothy could see that in spite of his pretty clothes of red and yellow and green he was completely covered with cracks, running every which way and showing plainly that he had been mended in many places.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

There were milkmaids and shepherdesses, with brightly colored bodices and golden spots all over their gowns; and princesses with most gorgeous frocks of silver and gold and purple; and shepherds dressed in knee breeches with pink and yellow and blue stripes down them, and golden buckles on their shoes; and princes with jeweled crowns upon their heads, wearing ermine robes and satin doublets; and funny clowns in ruffled gowns, with round red spots upon their cheeks and tall, pointed caps. And, strangest of all, these people were all made of china, even to their clothes, and were so small that the tallest of them was no higher than Dorothy's knee.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)