clown

Etymology

From earlier clowne, cloyne (“man of rustic or coarse manners, boor, peasant”), likely of North Germanic origin, akin to Icelandic klunni (“clumsy fellow, klutz”). Compare also North Frisian klönne (“clumsy fellow, klutz”), Dutch kluns (“clumsy fellow”). Unlikely from Latin colōnus (“colonist, farmer”), although learned awareness of this term may have influenced semantic development.

noun

1. A slapstick performance artist often associated with a circus and usually characterized by bright, oversized clothing, a red nose, face paint, and a brightly colored wig.
   Over there in Norway, the churches all burn down / Let's go dress in goth clothes and get painted like a clown 2008, Lich King, “Black Metal Sucks”, in Toxic Zombie Onslaught
2. A person who acts in a silly fashion.
   He was regarded as the clown of the school, always playing pranks.
3. A stupid or badly-behaved person.
   Everything’s on the table, the specs are there in the RFP and can’t be changed by some clown in the Air Force who happens to come up with a new idea. 2013, Kim Stanley Robinson, The Gold Coast: Three Californias (Wild Shore Triptych; 2), Tom Doherty Associates, page 122
   'Breaking my sister's heart then getting pissed with his mates in the very next pub while she's sobbing alone?' I dragged this clown away from the fruitie and back to Amy next door, running my mouth off at him as we went. 2017, Arron Crascall, See Ya Later: The World According to Arron Crascall
4. (obsolete) A man of coarse nature and manners; an awkward fellow; an illbred person; a boor.
   […] three things ought always to be kept under: a mastiff dog, a stone horse and a clown; and really I think a snarling, cross-grained clown to be the most unlucky beast of three. 1700, Timothy Nourse, Campania Foelix, pages 15–16
5. (obsolete) One who works upon the soil; a rustic; a churl; a yokel.
   He […] began to descend to familiar questions, endeavouring to accommodate his discourse to the grossness of rustic understandings. The clowns soon found that he did not know wheat from rye, and began to despise him; one of the boys, by pretending to show him a bird's nest, decoyed him into a ditch; […] August 25, 1759, Samuel Johnson, The Idler No. 71
6. A clownfish.
   While the tomato clownfish Amphiprion frenatus has been spawned in captivity, wild-caught tomato clowns are more often seen for sale. 2006, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, volume 54, numbers 5-8, page 32

verb

1. (intransitive) To act in a silly or playful fashion.
2. (transitive, African-American Vernacular) To ridicule.
   The show Dismissed was one of my favorites, because I like to see people get clowned. 2002, Vibe, volume 10, number 11, page 62
   All my comrades were laughing and clowning me, but shit, that didn't stop me from talking more shit. 2017, Darrell Smith, Miracle Baby