What's the difference between buffoonish and clownish?

Buffoonish


Definition:

  • (a.) Like a buffoon; consisting in low jests or gestures.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It really astonished me.” Donald Trump: I get along great with Mexico but China should watch out Read more On a superficial level, says Bisley, Beijing would be ecstatic at the emergence of a “buffoonish, clownish, evil boss” who captures the “chaos of democracy” so well.
  • (2) Heath was a buffoonish ninny, and Churchill a "war criminal, mass murderer and persecutor of PG Wodehouse".
  • (3) It's not just Hitler who gets mocked; Goebbels becomes Garbitsch, Mussolini becomes the buffoonish Napolini … it was, unsurprisingly, not released in Germany.
  • (4) Germaine Greer took part in a British performance of the play and found it a "much-hyped and fundamentally unchallenging piece of buffoonish American hoop-la".
  • (5) Elba, who has previously starred in one of Perry's romantic comedies ( Daddy's Little Girls ), lamented the trend for cross-dressing caricatures of black characters – a phenomenon many would recognise from films such as the The Klumps and Big Momma's House series – describing it as "buffoonish".
  • (6) Or he is a buffoonish con whose every gesture showcases his gross incompetence, plus he golfs too much, and he’s probably bad at that, too.
  • (7) Yes, Carter-Silk made a buffoonish comment but she could have slapped him down by simply pointing out that if you think something you say is going to sound stupid, it’s best not to say it.
  • (8) Nor is it a place for sunshine, cheer, labradors bumbling amiably across sweeping lawns, toffs fumbling buffoonishly with fish knives, shots of bonneted wenches that don't involve unwanted pregnancy or crying, or apple-cheeked Windy Miller types snapping their braces and whistling merrily as they inflate the bouncy castle of Social History.

Clownish


Definition:

  • (a.) Of or resembling a clown, or characteristic of a clown; ungainly; awkward.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Karadzic and Vojislav Seselj , an extreme Serbian nationalist and former paramilitary leader, are currently performing to the same clownish script.
  • (2) It really astonished me.” Donald Trump: I get along great with Mexico but China should watch out Read more On a superficial level, says Bisley, Beijing would be ecstatic at the emergence of a “buffoonish, clownish, evil boss” who captures the “chaos of democracy” so well.
  • (3) Cigarettes, soap, shoe polish, Uncle Ben's rice and "Cream of Wheat" cereal used clownish black characters and "black" grammar in their advertising.
  • (4) These might include, say, red leather trousers, bow ties, Lycra, bomber jackets, leopard-print, cartoon sailor collars, white tights, military frogging, deckchair stripes, blazers, bikinis, giant checks and more of the massive, clownishly shouldered jackets that Diana would accessorise – often to 1980s acclaim – with panto tricorns, pillboxes the size of cake tins.
  • (5) He doesn’t publicly criticise Griff for giving paranoid lectures about the Illuminati, just like he didn’t knock Flav for becoming a clownish reality TV star.
  • (6) Bush disseminated a new web video on Saturday entitled Judgement [sic], which uses a whimsical clarinet soundtrack and interview lowlights to portray Trump as a clownish figure not suited to the grave responsibilities of the presidency.
  • (7) Stuart Campbell Hightae, Dumfriesshire • Neal Ascherson ( Letters , 25 February) says that José Manuel Barroso's "clownish blurt seems to have no support from embarrassed European commission colleagues".
  • (8) While many have portrayed him as a clownish and eccentric figure – an image no doubt reinforced by his characterisation in Team America: World Police – others say he is smart and even witty.
  • (9) He was the reserve keeper, the relic of the past, the clownish figure so often blamed for Ivorian failure.
  • (10) An optimistic interpretation is that Kim, giving the lie to his clownish, bon-viveur image, is actually being rather Machiavellian by setting the stage for a new opening to the west.
  • (11) If you have a job, most likely you'll have been at work; if you don't, just admitting to have seen Lord Freud and his serpentine, clownish position-taking would probably be grounds enough to get you sanctioned.
  • (12) For all that, Luhrmann's clownish progress has carried him far.
  • (13) Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a clownish racist whose Liberal Democratic Party's policies are as far from liberalism or democracy as they can get, proposed "cleaning" the Russian language of supposedly unnecessary borrowings last year – mentioning words such as singl , butik and performans – though it didn't get much traction then.
  • (14) Behind the clownish posturing lies one ugly fact: since 1992, when these negotiations were conceived, global greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels have risen by half.
  • (15) His appeal is clownish: fine for a fun job like City Hall, but a liability for anyone aspiring to lead the country, in charge of the military and the NHS.
  • (16) As for Jose Manuel Barroso's claim that Scotland might be barred from EU membership, which Martin Kettle calls "an important warning", this clownish blurt seems to have no support from embarrassed European commission colleagues.
  • (17) One piece I watch in the packed theatre is based on a classic piece of north Indian folk theatre, poking fun at a clownish British redcoat who attempts to have his wicked way with a local girl.

Words possibly related to "buffoonish"