Zany

Acceptable For Game Play - US & UK word lists

This word is acceptable for play in the US & UK dictionaries that are being used in the following games:

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
  • n. A ludicrous, buffoonish character in old comedies who attempts feebly to mimic the tricks of the clown.
  • n. A comical person given to extravagant or outlandish behavior.
  • adj. Ludicrously comical; clownish.
  • adj. Comical because of incongruity or strangeness; bizarre.
  • Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
  • adj. ludicrously or incongruously comical
  • adj. bizarre, clownish
  • n. A fool or clown.
  • the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
  • n. A merry-andrew; a buffoon.
  • v. To mimic.
  • The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  • n. A comic performer, originating on the Italian stage, whose function it is to make awkward attempts at mimicking the tricks of the professional clown, or the acts of other performers; hence, an apish buffoon in general; a merry-andrew; an amusing fool.
  • n. . An attendant.
  • n. Synonyms Clown, Fool, Buffoon, Mimic, Zany. “The zany in Shakespere's day was not so much a buffoon and mimic as the obsequious follower of a buffoon and the attenuated mime of a mimic. He was the vice, servant, or attendant of the professional clown or fool, who, dressed like his master, accompanied him on the stage or in the ring, following his movements, imitating his tricks. and adding to the general merriment by his ludicrous failures and comic imbecility … The professional clown or fool might be clever and accomplished in his business, a skilful tumbler and mountebank, doing what he undertook to do thoroughly and well. But this was never the case with the zany. He was always slight and thin, well-meaning, but comparatively helpless, full of readiness, grimace, and alacrity, but also of incompetence. eagerly trying to imitate his superior, but ending in failure and absurdity … We have ourselves seen the clown and the zany in the ring together, the clown doing clever tricks, the zany provoking immense laughter by his ludicrous failures in attempting to imitate them. Where there is only a single clown. he often combines both the characters, doing skilful tumbling on his own account, and playing the zany to the riders.” (Edinburgh Rev., July, 1869, art. 4.)
  • To play the zany to; mimic; imitate apishly.
  • WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
  • n. a man who is a stupid incompetent fool
  • adj. like a clown
  • n. a buffoon in one of the old comedies; imitates others for ludicrous effect
  • adj. ludicrous, foolish
  • Equivalent
    humourous    humorous    foolish   
    Hypernym
    Words that are more generic or abstract
    saphead    sap    tomfool    fool    muggins    merry-andrew    clown    goof    buffoon    goofball   
    Variant
    zaniest    zanier   
    Form
    zaniness   
    Synonym
    Words with the same meaning
    merry-andrew    buffoon    mimic    wacky   
    Rhyme
    Words with the same terminal sound
    Bahraini    Chaney    Cheney    Delaney    Hany    Janey    Janie    Khomeini    Laney    Rainey   
    Same Context
    Words that are found in similar contexts