as in boorish
having or showing crudely insensitive or impolite manners
the clownish antics of some of the teenagers at the wedding reception
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Recent Examples of clownish
Its members' firm repudiation of the unqualified and clownish Matt Gaetz for attorney general shows that its members can still stiffen their sinews and summon up the courage to curb President-elect Donald Trump's appetite for surrounding himself with sycophantic boobs.
—
Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 27 Nov. 2024
Before news of the repression broke, many Western media stories about Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov portrayed him as a clownish dictator obsessed with his Instagram account.
—Layla Taimienova, Foreign Affairs, 10 May 2017
Over the coming days, the owners of Four Seasons Total Landscaping did their patriotic duty and cashed in on their temporary notoriety, selling souvenirs to commemorate the fiasco; to Trump’s detractors, the debacle epitomized the clownish incompetence that had defined his presidency.
—Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2024
Characters like Felix and Oswald have kind of an unfortunate connection to theater insofar as they’re associated with blackface minstrelsy—the notoriously racist form of stage performance where actors would blacken their faces, wear white gloves, and perform clownish antics.
—Tim Brinkhof, JSTOR Daily, 9 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for clownish
Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 27 Nov. 2024
Before news of the repression broke, many Western media stories about Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov portrayed him as a clownish dictator obsessed with his Instagram account.
—Layla Taimienova, Foreign Affairs, 10 May 2017
Over the coming days, the owners of Four Seasons Total Landscaping did their patriotic duty and cashed in on their temporary notoriety, selling souvenirs to commemorate the fiasco; to Trump’s detractors, the debacle epitomized the clownish incompetence that had defined his presidency.
—Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2024
Characters like Felix and Oswald have kind of an unfortunate connection to theater insofar as they’re associated with blackface minstrelsy—the notoriously racist form of stage performance where actors would blacken their faces, wear white gloves, and perform clownish antics.
—Tim Brinkhof, JSTOR Daily, 9 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for clownish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clownish
Adjective
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Lead defense attorney Arthur Aidala had claimed their testimony made his client seem so boorish that jurors were all but certain to vote guilty.—
Victoria Bekiempis,
Vulture,
15 Apr. 2025
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Delaney manages neighbor guy’s evolution from boorish slob to kind-hearted lover with ease, and Hoffman radiates a cool charisma as G. Sissy Spacek is predictably wonderful as Molly’s mother Gail, whose guilt over her daughter’s molestation led to a years-long estrangement.—
Kristen Baldwin,
EW.com,
27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Making stupid internet fodder has never been easier than now, with the prevalence of AI image generators making everything from deepfakes to memes.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
26 Apr. 2025
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Much like the stupid prions wreaking havoc in his brain.—
David Oliver,
USA Today,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s wheelchair was famously hidden from the public, though his ailment was not necessarily a secret, just considered uncouth to talk about.—
Haisten Willis,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Apr. 2025
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Bell, a Ritchie regular, offers an uncouth but equally menacing counterpoint to Brosnan, a mobster who isn’t pretending that he’s crawled out of the muck.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Even Lochlan and Piper, who think of themselves as more enlightened than their loutish brother and materialistic parents, have a lot of Victoria in them.—
Noel Murray,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2025
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Every great festival lineup needs an eccentric art-pop groundbreaker and some loutish guys who write anthems.—
Al Shipley,
Vulture,
6 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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But, for not a single D to stand to applaud a boy's brave battle with cancer, or a man's admission to West Point, was a classless disgrace.—
Russel Honoré,
Newsweek,
5 Mar. 2025
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Communism, on the other hand, advocates for a classless society where all property is communally owned.—
H. Sami Karaca,
The Conversation,
13 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Some might consider this observation churlish when her biggest rival, ITV, was criticized for abandoning the playing field on Christmas Day after scheduling a parade of repeats.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
6 Jan. 2025
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The British series, which debuted in 2022, follows Oscar winner Gary Oldman’s churlish and disheveled Jackson Lamb as the leader of a team of disgraced and disowned MI5 agents scrappily and shabbily getting the job done.—
Trey Williams,
The Hollywood Reporter,
9 Aug. 2024
Adjective
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The comments in screen shots of the chat room were demeaning and vulgar – as were the texts from the anonymous messenger who had sent her the images.—
Yoonjung Seo and Mike Valerio,
CNN Money,
25 Apr. 2025
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Where once was the vulgar, now lies the Vulgate, a common relatable almost religious experience that all at Barclays seemed to feel.—
Kory Grow,
Rolling Stone,
18 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Clownish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clownish. Accessed 1 May. 2025.
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