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Buffoon

 - 3 dictionary results

buf⋅foon

  [buh-foon]
–noun
1. a person who amuses others by tricks, jokes, odd gestures and postures, etc.
2. a person given to coarse or undignified joking.
Use Buffoon in a Sentence
Origin:
1540–50; earlier buffon < F < It buffone, equiv. to buff- (expressive base; cf. buffa puff of breath, buffare to puff, puff up one's checks) + -one agent suffix ≪ L -ō, acc. -ōnem

Related forms:
buf⋅foon⋅er⋅y  [buh-foo-nuh-ree] , noun
buf⋅foon⋅ish, adjective

Synonyms:
1. jester, clown, fool. 2. boor.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To Buffoon
buf·foon   (bə-fōōn')   
n.  

  1. A clown; a jester: a court buffoon.

  2. A person given to clowning and joking.

  3. A ludicrous or bumbling person; a fool.


[French bouffon, from Old Italian buffone, from buffa, jest, from buffare, to puff, of imitative origin.]
buf·foon'er·y (bə-fōō'nə-rē) n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

buffoon 
1549, from M.Fr. bouffon, from It. buffone "jester," from buffare "to puff out the cheeks," a comic gesture, of echoic origin.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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