as in joking
wildly playful or mischievous behavior
our coworker's clowning was distracting, but fun to watch
Synonyms & Similar Words
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1
as in masquerading
Related Words
2
as in cutting up
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of clowning
Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 13 Jan. 2026
Art, meanwhile, occupies a lonely table in the pizzeria and tries to put on his best clowning act for the two women.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
As with older clowning traditions, the early American circus clowns were adults performing taboo acts to shock and delight other adults.
—Time, 30 Oct. 2025
Finally, after plenty of clowning, Taylor Swift has revealed that her 12th album is on the way, titled The Life of a Showgirl.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2025
This is a work in which the slapstick clowning and the tricky verbal non sequiturs should be merely the surface for roiling undercurrents of anguish, futility, despair and fear.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Noun
The clowning isn’t over just yet, though.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 13 Jan. 2026
Art, meanwhile, occupies a lonely table in the pizzeria and tries to put on his best clowning act for the two women.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
As with older clowning traditions, the early American circus clowns were adults performing taboo acts to shock and delight other adults.
—Time, 30 Oct. 2025
Finally, after plenty of clowning, Taylor Swift has revealed that her 12th album is on the way, titled The Life of a Showgirl.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2025
This is a work in which the slapstick clowning and the tricky verbal non sequiturs should be merely the surface for roiling undercurrents of anguish, futility, despair and fear.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clowning
Noun
-
Cole follows up with a joking request to appear on an interlude on the forthcoming project, then asks whether West could send him a care package of clothes — which West agrees to — before exiting the stage.—
Jessica Lynch,
Billboard,
28 Dec. 2025
-
Our poll’s options include a joking reference to Dan Marino.—
Greg Cote
December 20,
Miami Herald,
20 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Meanwhile, as all of this is happening, Meredith is cutting up with the other ladies at the spa, without a care in the world.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
31 Dec. 2025
-
Ford is planning on cutting up to 1,000 roles in electric-vehicle production in Germany.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, previously said in a statement that accounts imitating other people go against their terms of service and are removed when flagged.—
Jessica Sager,
PEOPLE,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Broncos fans have rallied around their backup quarterback, with thousands of fans changing their social media avatars to a picture of Stidham’s face, photoshopped with sunglasses and headphones, imitating a LeBron James meme.—
Doug Kyed,
Boston Herald,
25 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
In April 2020, Iglesias shared a video of him horsing around with Lucy and Nicholas as the pair attempted to climb on his back for a ride.—
Andrea Wurzburger,
PEOPLE,
19 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Death by Lightning, adapted by Mike Makowsky from Candice Millard’s 2011 nonfiction book and directed by Matt Ross, hums with the strength of these performances, particularly Shannon’s quiet composure and Macfadyen mining new depths of buffoonery.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
1 Dec. 2025
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North Coast Rep will present a show Dec. 11-Dec. 14 with bubbling energy and comedic buffoonery in the British Pantomime version of The Adventures of Robin Hood as its next student production.—
News Release,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
20 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
This approach avoids measurement errors introduced by elastic components while still mimicking biological energy storage and return.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Each stimulus was paired with laser stimulation of a brain region called the amygdala, mimicking a dopamine hit.—
Dhruv Khullar,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The transition was rough for Ansari, who wasn’t fluent in English and often got in trouble for fooling around in school.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Gisin hopes that by fooling around with measurements of these more exotic states, physicists will come to better understand the role of measurement in general.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
As for Abdul-Mateen, the clownery will resume for him on Broadway.—
Jessica Wang,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2022
-
Tirhakah Love is a senior writer at New York Magazine and the host of the new evening newsletter Dinner Party, a daily email that touches on all things entertainment — that means film, television, music, tech, and gaming — plus politics and corporate clownery.—
Vulture,
Vulture,
29 Apr. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Clowning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clowning. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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