1
as in boorishness
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in buffoonery
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clownishness
Noun
-
His is a sort of erudite buffoonery that consistently tap-dances between clever, self-aware, and patently stupid.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
22 Mar. 2025 -
There is, in fact, real stagecraft along with the buffoonery.—
Susan B. Glasser,
The New Yorker,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
England have shown a certain flippancy towards white-ball cricket since winning the 2019 World Cup.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
-
SpaceX could afford its flippancy on X because the company has always operated with a fly-fast, fail-fast, fly-again metabolism.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
TIME,
17 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
To complement these ladies navigating a sea of business attire by sexing it up with insouciance (as well as micro hemlines and plenty of sheer) were her male coworkers who dabbled in a bit of New Romantic touches.—
Roxanne Robinson,
Forbes,
8 Mar. 2025
-
His coy narrative voice and audacious insouciance, thinly disguised under a patina of classical Oxford education and self-deprecating wit, amuse the reader for several hundred pages.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
The Trump era is one of indelicacy, profanity, and real—not imagined—misogyny, and its flacks deserve a language that matches up.—
Josephine Livingstone,
The New Republic,
5 June 2018
-
Trump added, seemingly referring to the indelicacy of directly attacking a war hero who is fighting brain cancer.—
Callum Borchers,
Washington Post,
28 Feb. 2018
Noun
-
The banal village tunes that Mahler altered into sinister mock vulgarities—did these not recall the raffish klezmer bands, the wandering musicians who played at shtetl weddings?—
David Denby,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2025
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The real marvel, in this instance, being the avoidance of vulgarity.—
Mark Swed,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Mar. 2025
Noun
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But Shelly will still go on about the crudity of newer shows in town, insisting that Razzle Dazzle has an elegant French tone.—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
10 Jan. 2025
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And, while its crudity is certainly purposeful, its sense of purpose can be elusive at times.—
Phillip Maciak,
The New Republic,
28 Mar. 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Clownishness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clownishness. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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