Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

merry andrew

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.76 in modern English

Syllables: mer-ry an-drew
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A person who clowns publicly; a buffoon; an entertainer's assistant.

Example Sentences

"Instead, therefore, of answering my landlady, the puppet-show man ran out to punish his Merry-Andrew [...]"
"The games of the circus—the wild-beast fight and the gladiators, the rope-dancers, the merry-andrews, and the posture-masters,—were more to their taste than clever intrigue and brilliant dialogue."
"One of them, the eldest, was a sort of merry andrew and was not above dressing the part with a weird cap of jackal's skin with many hanging tails and tassels."

Etymology

Originally associated with a specific act at Bartholomew Fair; later said to have come from the name of Andrew Boorde.

Inflected Forms

Merry Andrews (plural) merry-andrew (alternative) merryandrew (alternative)

Synonyms

clown buffoon goof goofball

Questions

What does merry andrew mean?: A person who clowns publicly; a buffoon; an entertainer's assistant.
Where does merry andrew come from?: Originally associated with a specific act at Bartholomew Fair; later said to have come from the name of Andrew Boorde.

How to pronounce merry andrew

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