Acting like a clown or buffoon.

synonyms: clowning, frivolity, harlequinade, japery, prank.

Roget 853: ridiculousness etc. adj.; comicality, oddity etc. adj.; extravagance, drollery.    farce, comedy; burlesque etc. (ridicule) 856; buffoonery etc. (fun) 840; frippery; doggerel verses; absurdity etc. 497; bombast etc. (unmeaning) 517; anticlimax, bathos; eccentricity, monstrosity etc. (unconformity) 83; laughingstock etc. 857.    ... show more

Roget 856: ridicule, derision; sardonic smile, sardonic grin; irrision^†; scoffing etc. (disrespect) 929; mockery, quiz^†, banter, irony, persiflage, raillery, chaff, badinage; quizzing etc. v.; asteism^†.    squib, satire, skit, quip, quib^†, grin.    parody, burlesque, travesty, travestie^†; farce etc. (drama) 599; caricature.    buffoonery etc. (fun) 840; practical joke; horseplay.    scorn, contempt etc. 930.    ... show more

Roget 842: wit, humor, wittiness; sense of humor; attic wit, attic salt; atticism^†; salt, esprit, point, fancy, whim, drollery, pleasantry.    farce, buffoonery, fooling, tomfoolery; shenanigan [U.S.], harlequinade etc. 599^†; broad farce, broad humor; fun, espieglerie [Fr.]; vis comica [Lat.].    jocularity; jocosity, jocoseness^†; facetiousness; waggery, waggishness; whimsicality; comicality etc. 853.    banter, badinage, retort, repartee, smartness, ready wit, quid-pro-quo; ridicule etc. 856.    jest, joke, jape, jibe; facetiae [Lat.], levity, quips and cranks; capital joke; canorae nugae [Lat.]; standing jest, standing joke, private joke, conceit, quip, quirk, crank, quiddity, concetto^†, plaisanterie [Fr.], brilliant idea; merry thought, bright thought, happy thought; sally; flash of wit, flash of merriment; scintillation; mot [Fr.], mot pour rire [Fr.]; witticism, smart saying, bon-mot, jeu d'esprit [Fr.], epigram; jest book; dry joke, quodlibet, cream of the jest.    word-play, jeu de mots [Fr.]; play of words, play upon words; pun, punning; double entente, double entendre [Fr.] etc. (ambiguity) 520; quibble, verbal quibble; conundrum etc. (riddle) 533; anagram, acrostic, double acrostic, trifling, idle conceit, turlupinade^†.    old joke, tired joke, flat joke, Joe Miller^†.    ... show more

Roget 840: amusement, entertainment, recreation, fun, game, fun and games; diversion, divertissement; reaction, solace; pastime, passetemps [Fr.], sport; labor of love; pleasure etc. 827.    relaxation; leisure etc. 685.    fun, frolic, merriment, jollity; joviality, jovialness^†; heyday; laughter etc. 838; jocosity, jocoseness^†; drollery, buffoonery, tomfoolery; mummery, pleasantry; wit etc. 842; quip, quirk.    [verbal expressions of amusement: list] giggle, titter, snigger, snicker, crow, cheer, chuckle, shout; horse laugh, belly laugh, hearty laugh; guffaw; burst of laughter, fit of laughter, shout of laughter, roar of laughter, peal of laughter; cachinnation^†; Kentish fire; tiger.    play; game, game at romps; gambol, romp, prank, antic, rig, lark, spree, skylarking, vagary, monkey trick, gambade, fredaine^†, escapade, echappee [Fr.], bout, espieglerie [Fr.]; practical joke etc. (ridicule) 856.    dance; hop, reel, rigadoon^†, saraband^†, hornpipe, bolero, ballroom dance; [ballroom dances: list], minuet, waltz, polka, fox trot, tango, samba, rhumba, twist, stroll, hustle, cha-cha; fandango, cancan; bayadere^†; breakdown, cake-walk, cornwallis [U.S.], break dancing; nautch-girl; shindig [U.S.]; skirtdance^†, stag dance, Virginia reel, square dance; galop^†, galopade^†; jig, Irish jig, fling, strathspey^†; allemande [Fr.]; gavot^†, gavotte, tarantella; mazurka, morisco^†, morris dance; quadrille; country dance, folk dance; cotillon, Sir Roger de Coverley; ballet etc. (drama) 599; ball; bal, bal masque, bal costume; masquerade; Terpsichore.    festivity, merrymaking; party etc. (social gathering) 892; blowout [U.S.], hullabaloo, hoedown, bat [U.S.], bum [U.S.], bust [Slang], clambake [U.S.], donation party [U.S.], fish fry [U.S.], jamboree [Slang], kantikoy^†, nautch^†, randy, squantum [U.S.], tear [Slang], Turnerfest^†, yule log; fete, festival, gala, ridotto^†; revels, revelry, reveling; carnival, brawl, saturnalia, high jinks; feast, banquet etc. (food) 298; regale, symposium, wassail; carouse, carousal; jollification, junket, wake, Irish wake, picnic, fete champetre [Fr.], regatta, field day; treat.    round of pleasures, dissipation, a short life and a merry one, racketing, holiday making.    rejoicing etc. 838; jubilee etc. (celebration) 883.    bonfire, fireworks, feu-de-joie, firecracker.    holiday; gala day, red letter day, play day; high days and holidays; high holiday, Bank holiday; May day, Derby day; Saint Monday, Easter Monday, Whit Monday; Bairam^†; wayz-goos^†, bean feast; Arbor Day, Declaration Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving Day; Mardi gras [Fr.], mi-careme [Fr.], feria [Lat.], fiesta.    place of amusement, theater; hall, concert room, ballroom, assemblyroom^†; music hall.    park, plaisance^†; national park, national forest, state park, county park, city park, vest-pocket park, public park (public) 737.1; arbor; garden etc. (horticulture) 371; pleasure ground, playground, cricketground, croquet ground, archery ground, hunting ground; tennis court, racket court; bowling alley, green alley; croquet lawn, rink, glaciarum^†, skating rink; roundabout, merry-go-round; swing; montagne Russe [Fr.].    game of chance, game of skill.    athletic sports, gymnastics; archery, rifle shooting; tournament, pugilism etc. (contention) 720; sports etc. 622; horse racing, the turf; aquatics etc. 267; skating, sliding; cricket, tennis, lawn tennis; hockey, football, baseball, soccer, ice hockey, basketball; rackets, fives, trap bat and ball, battledore and shuttlecock, la grace; pall-mall, tipcat^†, croquet, golf, curling, pallone^†, polo, water polo; tent pegging; tilting at the ring, quintain [Mediev.]; greasy pole; quoits, horseshoes, discus; rounders, lacrosse; tobogganing, water polo; knurr and spell^†.    [childrens' games] leapfrog, hop skip and jump; mother may I; French and English, tug of war; blindman's bluff, hunt the slopper^†, hide and seek, kiss in the ring; snapdragon; cross questions and crooked answers.   ; crisscross, hopscotch; jacks, jackstones^†, marbles; mumblety-peg, mumble-the-peg, pushball, shinney, shinny, tag &c.; billiards, pool, pingpong, pyramids, bagatelle; bowls, skittles, ninepins, kain^†, American bowls^†; tenpins [U.S.], tivoli.    cards, card games; whist, rubber; round game; loo, cribbage, besique^†, euchre, drole^†, ecarte [Fr.], picquet^†, allfours^†, quadrille, omber, reverse, Pope Joan, commit; boston, boaston^†; blackjack, twenty-one, vingtun [Fr.]; quinze [Fr.], thirty-one, put, speculation, connections, brag, cassino^†, lottery, commerce, snip-snap-snoren^†, lift smoke, blind hookey, Polish bank, Earl of Coventry, Napoleon, patience, pairs; banker; blind poker, draw poker, straight poker, stud poker; bluff, bridge, bridge whist; lotto, monte, three-card monte, nap, penny-ante, poker, reversis^†, squeezers, old maid, fright, beggar-my-neighbor; baccarat.    [cards: list] ace, king, queen, knave, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, trey, deuce; joker; trump, wild card.    [card suits: list] spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds; major suit, minor suit.    bower; right bower, left bower; dummy; jackpot; deck.    [hands at poker: list] pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full-house, four of a kind, royal flush; misere &c.. [board games: list] chess, draughts, checkers, checquers, backgammon, dominos, merelles^†, nine men's morris, go bang, solitaire; game of fox and goose; monopoly; loto &c.; [word games: list], scrabble, scribbage, boggle, crossword puzzle, hangman.    morra^†; gambling etc. (chance) 621.    toy, plaything, bauble; doll etc. (puppet ) 554; teetotum^†; knickknack etc. (trifle) 643; magic lantern etc. (show) 448; peep show, puppet show, raree show, gallanty show^†; toy shop; quips and cranks and wanton wiles, nods and becks quips and cranks and wanton wiles, nods and becks and wreathed smiles" [Milton]. entertainer, showman, showgirl; dancer, tap dancer, song-and-dance man; vaudeville act; singer; musician etc. 416.    sportsman, gamester, reveler; master of ceremonies, master of revels; pompom girl^†; arbiter elegantiarum [Lat.]; arbiter bibendi [Lat.], archer, fan [U.S.], toxophilite^†, turfman^†.    ... show more

Roget 599: the drama, the stage, the theater, the play; film the film, movies, motion pictures, cinema, cinematography; theatricals, dramaturgy, histrionic art, buskin, sock, cothurnus^†, Melpomene and Thalia, Thespis.    play, drama, stage play, piece [Fr.], five-act play, tragedy, comedy, opera, vaudeville, comedietta^†, lever de rideau [Fr.], interlude, afterpiece^†, exode^†, farce, divertissement, extravaganza, burletta^†, harlequinade^†, pantomime, burlesque, opera bouffe [Fr.], ballet, spectacle, masque, drame comedie drame [Fr.]; melodrama, melodrame^†; comidie larmoyante [Fr.], sensation drama; tragicomedy, farcical-comedy; monodrame monologue; duologue trilogy^†; charade, proverbs; mystery, miracle play; musical, musical comedy.    [movies] western, horse opera; flick [Coll.]; spy film, love story, adventure film, documentary, nature film; pornographic film, smoker, skin flick, X-rated film.    act, scene, tableau; induction, introduction; prologue, epilogue; libretto.    performance, representation, mise en scene [Fr.], stagery^†, jeu de theatre [Fr.]; acting; gesture etc. 550; impersonation etc. 554; stage business, gag, buffoonery.    light comedy, genteel comedy, low comedy.    theater; playhouse, opera house; house; music hall; amphitheater, circus, hippodrome, theater in the round; puppet show, fantoccini^†; marionettes, Punch and Judy.    auditory, auditorium, front of the house, stalls, boxes, pit, gallery, parquet; greenroom, coulisses [Fr.].    flat; drop, drop scene; wing, screen, side scene; transformation scene, curtain, act drop; proscenium.    stage, scene, scenery, the boards; trap, mezzanine floor; flies; floats, footlights; offstage; orchestra.    theatrical costume, theatrical properties.    movie studio, back lot, on location.    part, role, character, dramatis personae [Lat.]; repertoire.    actor, thespian, player; method actor; stage player, strolling player; stager, performer; mime, mimer^†; artists; comedian, tragedian; tragedienne, Roscius; star, movie star, star of stage and screen, superstar, idol, sex symbol; supporting actor, supporting cast; ham, hamfatter [Slang]; masker^†.    pantomimist, clown harlequin, buffo^†, buffoon, farceur, grimacer, pantaloon, columbine; punchinello^†; pulcinello^†, pulcinella^†; extra, bit-player, walk-on role, cameo appearance; mute, figurante^†, general utility; super, supernumerary.    company; first tragedian, prima donna [Sp.], protagonist; jeune premier [Fr.]; debutant, debutante [Fr.]; light comedian, genteel comedian, low comedian; walking gentleman, amoroso^†, heavy father, ingenue [Fr.], jeune veuve [Fr.].    mummer, guiser^†, guisard^†, gysart^†, masque.    mountebank, Jack Pudding; tumbler, posture master, acrobat; contortionist; ballet dancer, ballet girl; chorus singer; coryphee danseuse [Fr.].    property man, costumier, machinist; prompter, call boy; manager; director, stage manager, acting manager.    producer, entrepreneur, impresario; backer, investor, angel [Fig.].    dramatic author, dramatic writer; play writer, playwright; dramatist, mimographer^†.    ... show more