buffoon
/bəˈfuːn
/noun
A ridiculous but amusing person; a clown.I am usually quite controlled, but I was irritated that I was forced to spend my time with these sycophantic buffoons, and it occurred to me that I should for once try to extract a fee for my weekly generosity....
- On TV shows, leading men wore suits and came home from offices, not factories, while the occasional blue-collar protagonists who did appear were treated as buffoons.
- However, before dismissing the generals as mere incompetent buffoons, we must establish the context.
Derivatives
buffoonish
- It's as if these two sides of his character, the passion and the buffoonish clumsiness are interlocked, as if he's a pan that's continually on the verge of boiling over.
- The transition from buffoonish to sinister is seamless.
- I can never be sure whether I come across as witty or buffoonish at work.
Origin
Mid 16th century: from French bouffon, from Italian buffone, from medieval Latin buffo 'clown'. Originally recorded as a rare Scots word for a kind of pantomime dance, the term later (late 16th century) denoted a professional jester.
This comes via French and Italian from medieval Latin buffo ‘a clown’. In the late 16th century a buffoon was a professional jester.