buffoon

English

Etymology

From Middle French bouffon, from Italian buffone (“jester”), from buffare (“to puff out the cheeks”)

Pronunciation

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• Rhymes: -uːn

Noun

buffoon (plural buffoons)

1. One who acts in a silly or ridiculous fashion; a clown or fool.
2. (pejorative) An unintentionally ridiculous person.

Usage notes

• In the United States the term is used most commonly to describe inappropriate, clownish figures on the public stage; here the behavior of a variety of public figures have caused them to be described as buffoons by their political opponents.
• In the UK the term is used more broadly, to describe such people who are held in popular regard but who nevertheless engender amusement with their pronouncements and acts.

Derived terms

• buffoonery

Translations

one who acts in a silly or ridiculous fashion

Arabic: مهرج (ar) (maharija) f. Bulgarian: шут (bg) m., палячо (bg) n. Dutch: clown (nl) m.

Finnish: ilveilijä (fi), narri (fi), pelle (fi) Russian: шут (ru) m., паяц (ru) m., скоморох (ru) m. Swedish: pajas (sv)

Verb

buffoon (third-person singular simple present buffoons, present participle buffooning, simple past and past participle buffooned)

1. To behave like a buffoon
   • 1988 January 22, Henry Sheehan, “Little Boy Blue”:

     His mimicry of gay speech and facial expressions is analagous to an Amos 'n' Andy routine, in which white men buffooned their way through incredibly demeaning impersonations of black men.