Meanings
plural clownings
- countableuncountableClownish behavior.
The press took seriously all Shaw's provocative ambiguities and clownings, and Lady Astor was identified with his most outrageous actions and statements.
1961, Lucille Iremonger, And his charming lady, page 205 - countableuncountableThe practice and study thereof.
But it’s also a sign of the ascendant state of clowning, which, not long ago, resided in the bargain basement of artistic respect, alongside ventriloquists, mimes and jugglers. No longer.
2025 October 7, Jason Zinoman, “What Clowns! (That’s a Compliment)”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of clown
Synonyms & antonyms
nounacting like a clown or buffoon
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Finnish klovneria
- klovneriastudy of clowning
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with clowning
All rhymes →Cite this entry
clowning. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clowning
“clowning.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clowning. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clowning,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clowning.
Source: clowning on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.