ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Zany

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈzeɪni/ · Part of speech adjective

Quick meaning: Zany is an adjective meaning Unusual and awkward in a funny, comical manner; outlandish; clownish.

Meaning

Unusual and awkward in a funny, comical manner; outlandish; clownish.

More Meanings

  1. Ludicrously or incongruously comical.
  2. (archaic) A fool or clown, especially one whose business on the stage is to imitate foolishly the actions of the principal clown.
  3. (obsolete) To mimic foolishly.

Example Sentences

O great restorer of the good old stage, / Preacher at once, and Zany of thy age!
Then write that I may follow, and so be / Thy echo, thy debtor, thy foil, thy zany.
When playing for Connie Mack, Rube [Waddell]'s pattern after one of his zany outbursts usually involved promises of good behavior and a spurt of excellent pitching.
This runs counter to the play, where Grandpa is always benignly indulgent of all his zany progeny and their equally zany spouses, and is even somewhat zany himself.

Word Forms

Synonyms for zany

Depending on context, synonyms include wacky, silly, foolish, fool, jackass, sappy.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include silly, wacky, clownish, buffoonish, humourous, cockamamy.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.