buffoon - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

buf·foon

Audio Help [buh-foon] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a person who amuses others by tricks, jokes, odd gestures and postures, etc.

2.	a person given to coarse or undignified joking.

[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

Audio Help [buh-foo-nuh-ree] Pronunciation Key, noun

buf·foon·ish, adjective

—Synonyms 1. jester, clown, fool. 2. boor.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
buffoon

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

buf·foon Audio Help (bə-fōōn') Pronunciation Key
n.

A clown; a jester: a court buffoon.
A person given to clowning and joking.
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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
buffoon

1549, from M.Fr. bouffon, from It. buffone "jester," from buffare "to puff out the cheeks," a comic gesture, of echoic origin.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

buffoon
noun
1.	a rude or vulgar fool [syn: clown]
2.	a person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior [syn: clown]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Buffoon

Buf"fa\, n. fem. (Mus.) [It. See Buffoon.] The comic actress in an opera. -- a. Comic, farcical.

Aria buffa, a droll or comic air.

Opera buffa, a comic opera. See Opera bouffe.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Buffoon

Buf"fet\ (b[u^]f"f[e^]t), n. [OE. buffet, boffet, OF. buffet a slap in the face, a pair of bellows, fr. buffe blow, cf. F. bouffer to blow, puff; prob. akin to E. puff. For the meaning slap, blow, cf. F. soufflet a slap, souffler to blow. See Puff, v. i., and cf. Buffet sidebroad, Buffoon]

1. A blow with the hand; a slap on the face; a cuff.

When on his cheek a buffet fell. --Sir W. Scott.

2. A blow from any source, or that which affects like a blow, as the violence of winds or waves; a stroke; an adverse action; an affliction; a trial; adversity.

Those planks of tough and hardy oak that used for yeas to brave the buffets of the Bay of Biscay. --Burke.

Fortune's buffets and rewards. --Shak.

3. A small stool; a stool for a buffet or counter.

Go fetch us a light buffet. --Townely Myst.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Buffoon

Buf"fo\, n.masc. [It. See Buffoon.] (Mus.) The comic actor in an opera.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Buffoon

Buf*foon"\, n. [F. bouffon (cf. It. buffone, buffo, buffa, puff of wind, vanity, nonsense, trick), fr. bouffer to puff out, because the buffoons puffed out their cheeks for the amusement of the spectators. See Buffet a blow.] A man who makes a practice of amusing others by low tricks, antic gestures, etc.; a droll; a mimic; a harlequin; a clown; a merry-andrew.

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