clownish
/ˈklaʊnɪʃ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.99 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Resembling or characteristic of a circus clown; comical, ridiculous.
Example Sentences
- "Even worse, the zombies' clownish makeup, with a stark white base and black shoe polish around the eyes, looks amateurish."
- "Once again, City's defending was clownish. James McArthur drove into the area on the left and pulled a low cross towards the far post, where the horribly timid Gaël Clichy allowed Perch to bundle the ball past Costel Pantilimon."
- "Indeed, when in close quarters to Rooney, it must prove almost irresistible to stick a plastic moustache and silly clownish shoes on the potato-headed fool."
- "Large were his limbes, and terrible his looke, / And in his clownish hand a sharp bore speare he shooke."
- ""He is very plain, undoubtedly—remarkably plain:—but that is nothing compared with his entire want of gentility. I had no right to expect much, and I did not expect much; but I had no idea that he could be so very clownish, so totally without air. I had imagined him, I confess, a degree or two nearer gentility.""
Etymology
Etymology tree English clown Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-isk Old English -isċ Middle English -isch English -ish English clownish From clown + -ish.
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈklaʊnɪʃ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more clownish (comparative)
most clownish (superlative)