buffoon

CEFRC1

/bəˈfuːn/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A foolish person who behaves in a silly way.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    An unintentionally ridiculous person.

Examples

  • Tom is what my father would call a buffoon.

  • Zelensky may well be a buffoon, but he is hardly fascist.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. To behave like a buffoon

  2. One who performs in a silly or ridiculous fashion; a clown or fool.

More examples

In context

  • To divert the audience with buffoon postures and antic dances.

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

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

His silly antics made him look like a complete blank at the formal dinner.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle French bouffon, from Italian buffone (“jester”), from buffare (“to puff out the cheeks”), of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Middle High German buffen ("to puff"; > German büffen), Old English pyffan (“to breathe out, blow with the mouth”). More at English puff.