Meaning & use
buffoon
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountabledisapproving
A person who acts in a foolish, clumsy, or ridiculous way, often making others laugh at them or being taken less seriously.
Grammar: Countable noun: a buffoon, two buffoons.
Patterns
- act like a buffoon
- make a buffoon of yourself
He turned up to the meeting dressed as a pirate and acted like a buffoon.
Critics called the minister a buffoon after his clumsy speech.
I felt like a buffoon when I tripped over the microphone cable.
nouncountableold-fashioned
A comic performer in older theater or courts whose job was to entertain with jokes and silly antics.
Grammar: Countable; this sense is mainly historical.
The king kept a buffoon to amuse his guests at dinner.
In the old play, the buffoon steals every scene.
Word forms
| plural | buffoons |
|---|
Common combinations
- a bumbling buffoon
- The film shows him as a bumbling buffoon.
- play the buffoon
- He played the buffoon to lighten the mood.
- make a buffoon of someone
- The cartoon made a buffoon of the mayor.
- a pompous buffoon
- The host was a pompous buffoon.
Synonyms and how they differ
- clown
- Clown can be affectionate or professional, while buffoon is more often an insult.
- fool
- Fool is more general and need not involve showy, comic behavior.
- jester
- Jester names a historical court entertainer and is rarely an insult.
Opposites
Word family
- buffoonery noun
- silly or clownish behavior
- buffoonish adjective
- like a buffoon
Commonly confused: buffoon or baboon?
buffoon vs baboon
A baboon is a large monkey; a buffoon is a silly person.
Practice
The senator was mocked as a ___ after he fell off the stage during his own speech.
Choose one answer.
A buffoon is someone who looks ridiculous. The other nouns suggest wisdom or skill, which does not fit being mocked for a clumsy fall.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “buffoon”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.