buffoon

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /bəˈfuːn/ See IPA manual

Freq #20694

Meanings

1

noun
A person who behaves in a ridiculous or foolish way.

He made a complete buffoon of himself at the party.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who behaves in a... clown

Word family

Forms buffoons

Derived forms buffonizebuffoonerybuffoonesquebuffoonicbuffoonishbuffoonismbuffoonlikebuffoonlybuffoonry

Simplified etymology

Buffoon came through French and Italian from medieval Latin buffo “a clown.” It originally referred to a professional jester or comic actor.

Etymology

From Middle French bouffon, from Italian buffone (“jester”), from buffare (“to puff out the cheeks”), of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Middle High German buffen ("to puff"; > German büffen), Old English pyffan (“to breathe out, blow with the mouth”). More at English puff.

bouffon Middle French buffone Italian

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# buffoon

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /bəˈfuːn/
**Frequency rank:** 20694

## Meanings
1. A person who behaves in a ridiculous or foolish way.

## Examples
- He made a complete buffoon of himself at the party.

## Derived Forms
- buffonize
- buffoonery
- buffoonesque
- buffoonic
- buffoonish
- buffoonism
- buffoonlike
- buffoonly
- buffoonry

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bouffon
- Root: buffone

## Etymology
From Middle French bouffon, from Italian buffone (“jester”), from buffare (“to puff out the cheeks”), of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Middle High German buffen ("to puff"; > German büffen), Old English pyffan (“to breathe out, blow with the mouth”). More at English puff.

## AI Etymology
Buffoon is from Middle French bouffon, from Italian buffone (“jester”), from buffare (“to puff out the cheeks”), of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Middle High German buffen ("to puff"; > German büffen), Old English pyffan (“to breathe out, blow with the mouth”). More at English puff. In present-day use, it means a person who behaves in a ridiculous or foolish way. Derived formations include buffonize, buffoonery, buffoonesque, buffoonic, buffoonish.

## Topics
- People & Society

markdown