William Gifford
Did you know?
The oddballs among us are likely familiar with zany as an adjective, meaning "eccentric." But did you know the word originated as a noun—one that has withstood the test of time? Zanies have been theatrical buffoons since the heyday of the Italian commedia dell’arte, in which a "zanni" was a stock servant character, often an intelligent and proud valet with abundant common sense and a love of practical jokes. Zanni comes from a dialect nickname for Giovanni, the Italian form of John. The character quickly spread throughout European theater circles, inspiring such familiar characters as Pierrot and Harlequin, and by the late 1500s an anglicized version of the noun zany was introduced to English. The adjective appeared within decades, and eventually both adopted more general meanings to refer to or describe those of us who are quipsters and weirdos.
Synonyms
Adjective
- absurd
- asinine
- balmy
- brainless
- bubbleheaded
- cockeyed
- crackpot
- crazy
- cuckoo
- daffy
- daft
- dippy
- dotty
- fatuous
- featherheaded
- fool
- foolish
- half-baked
- half-witted
- harebrained
- inept
- insane
- jerky
- kooky
- kookie
- loony
- looney
- lunatic
- lunkheaded
- mad
- nonsensical
- nutty
- preposterous
- sappy
- screwball
- senseless
- silly
- simpleminded
- stupid
- tomfool
- unwise
- wacky
- whacky
- weak-minded
- witless
Noun
Examples of zany in a Sentence
Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2024
There’s no one better at capturing the zaniest highs and darkest lows of the soap opera genre, and Beauty in Black, his new Netflix series, is no exception.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 31 Oct. 2024
The legendary actor, 98, who first took the Masked Singer stage by storm in season 9 as the Gnome makes his return to the zany singing competition this week, and Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive first look, below.
—Lauren Huff, EW.com, 16 Oct. 2024
The film might be a zany, partially fictional buddy comedy but the story behind the character of Granny Lee is real.
—Quispe López, Them, 14 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for zany 
Dictionary Entries Near zany
Cite this Entry
“Zany.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zany. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
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zany
2 of 2 adjective
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