n.
- a comic entertainer, especially one in a circus, wearing a traditional costume and exaggerated make-up.
▸a playful, amusing person.
- a foolish or incompetent person.
- archaic an unsophisticated country person.
v.
act comically or playfully.
Derivative
- clownish adj.
- clownishly adv.
- clownishness n.
Etymology
C16: perh. of Low Ger. origin.