buffoonery

buf·foon·ery
B3U1F4F4O1O1N1E1R1Y4
Canada/bəˈfuːnəɹi/

noun

The behavior of a buffoon; foolishness, silliness.

Similar
clowningjaperyfrivolityharlequinadeprank
UncommonScrabble 21
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Meanings

nounbuffoonery (countable and uncountable, plural buffooneries)

plural buffooneries · alternative archaic buffoonry

  1. countableuncountableThe behavior of a buffoon; foolishness, silliness.

    The Temperance Reform was too serious a matter for trifling jokes and buffooneries.

    before 1891: P.T. Barnum, quoted in The Life of Phineas T. Barnum http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1576
    4 more examples

    Araminta, come I'll talk ſeriouſly to you now, could you but ſee vvith my Eyes the buffoonry of one Scene of Addreſs, a Lover, ſet out with all his Equipage and Appurtenances; […]

    1693, Will[iam] Congreve, The Old Batchelour, a Comedy. […], London: […] Peter Buck, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene [ii], page 14

    [W]e ſet him [the Devil] up like a Scare-Crovv to fright Children and old VVomen, to fill up old Stories, make Songs and Ballads, and in a VVord, carry on the lovv priz'd Buffoonry of the common People; […]

    1726, [Daniel Defoe], “Of the Manner of Satan’s Acting and Carrying on His Affairs in This World, and Particularly of His Ordinary Workings in the Dark, by Possession and Agitation”, in The Political History of the Devil, as well Ancient as Modern: […], London: […] T. Warner, […], →OCLC, part II (Of the Modern History of the Devil), page 222

    […] One could not expect any body to take such a part—Nothing but buffoonery from beginning to end.

    1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XIV, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 273

    Preamble is a hard-boiled steel commuter built for comfort, durability, and buffoonery on pavement and gravel.

    2025, “Pavement Bikes”, in Surly Bikes, retrieved 21 Feb 2025

Synonyms & antonyms

nounacting like a clown or buffoon

Similar
clowningjaperyfrivolityharlequinadeprank
Broader
follyfoolerytomfoolery
Also see
clowningfrivolityharlequinadejaperymonkeyshinepranktomfoolery

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From buffoon + -ery.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech klauniáda
  • klauniádabehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
Finnish pelleily
  • pelleilybehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
German Clownerie, Hanswursterei
  • Clowneriebehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
  • Hanswurstereibehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
  • Hanswurstiadebehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
  • Possenreißereibehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
Hungarian bolondozás
  • bolondozásbehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
Irish abhlóireacht
  • abhlóireachtbehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
Italian pagliacciata
  • pagliacciatabehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
Persian شوت بازی
  • شوت بازی (šut-bâzi)behaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
Polish bufonada, błazenada
  • bufonadabehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
  • błazenadabehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
Russian буффона́да, фигля́рство
  • буффона́да (buffonáda)behaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
  • фигля́рство (figljárstvo)behaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
  • клоуна́да (klounáda)behaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
  • шутовство́ (šutovstvó)behaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
Spanish bufonería, bufonada
  • bufoneríabehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
  • bufonadabehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
Turkish maskaralık, soytarılık
  • maskaralıkbehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
  • soytarılıkbehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
  • şaklabanlıkbehaviour expected of a buffoon — see also foolishness, silliness, clownery
Cite this entry
APA

buffoonery. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buffoonery

MLA

“buffoonery.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buffoonery. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “buffoonery,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buffoonery.

Source: buffoonery on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.