How to Use clownish in a Sentence

clownish

adjective
Definition of clownishnext
Synonyms for clownishnext
  • The Sox will show promise one day and look clownish the next.
    — Paul Sullivan, chicagotribune.com, 28 June 2018
  • The kind that found its zenith in Todd Phillips’ 2019 take on Batman’s clownish foe.
    — Manuel Betancourt, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
  • And a lot of us wouldn’t be seen dead on a scooter, the clownish version of a Segway.
    — Joe Queenan, WSJ, 7 June 2019
  • Trump has had some clownish lawyers over the years, but Necheles was dead serious.
    — Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 3 May 2024
  • How low had Russia’s name sunk in the West, if clownish tricks like this were being played on us here?
    — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, National Review, 17 Nov. 2020
  • Lynch plays Dahmer as a high school senior, weird and clownish, but part of a group of friends that reveled in his oddities.
    — Courtney Devores, charlotteobserver, 28 June 2017
  • By the end of the video, Cat and her friends dramatically lose the clown ‘fits and enjoy their fast-food meal outside the restaurant and in their clownish car.
    — Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2022
  • So will Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ clownish father, who needs his Twitter account burned alive at the stake.
    — Michael Arceneaux, The Root, 20 Oct. 2017
  • With clownish red lips, ears pointing straight out, eyes fixed in a dazed stare and hands outstretched, the figurines were grotesque caricatures of Black men.
    — Makeda Easter Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 27 July 2021
  • This wasn’t the Djokovic who’d been such an joyous treat in his prime—a superstar capable of being chatty and funny and clownish, even on the court.
    — Jason Gay, WSJ, 12 July 2018
  • There is no respectable way to argue otherwise, which is the main reason that Trump’s version of Option B looks so clownish.
    — Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2020
  • See below for several impressive takes on the equal parts chic and clownish makeup trend.
    — Kelsi Zimmerman, Marie Claire, 23 May 2017
  • The gray facemask, the clownish sleeve striping, the pointless jersey side panels, the embarrassing pants striping—what a mess.
    — Paul Lukas, SI.com, 29 Sep. 2019
  • The cast of challengers included clownish pretenders and tired retreads.
    — Steve Lopez Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2021
  • No one had noticed it, despite the animal’s clownish, grimy appearance and weak leg.
    — Flora Cassen, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Mar. 2023
  • The Rays’ strategy wasn’t quite clownish or burlesque, and there might actually be something to it.
    — Emma Baccellieri, SI.com, 4 July 2018
  • The home invaders are a little less clownish this time, led by John Leguizamo as a holiday-hating thief with his eyes on an ultra-wealthy family's vault of cash.
    — Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 2 Dec. 2022
  • Giving up after 146 years because it’s been surpassed by the much-more-thrilling and clownish Washington circus.
    — Kevin Cusick, Twin Cities, 16 Jan. 2017
  • David Larible invited crowd members to take part in his clownish antics.
    — Vincent Davis, ExpressNews.com, 14 Nov. 2020
  • The 5th Circuit judges combine their clownish approach to the law with a clownish confusion over the federal rules of procedure they are bound to apply.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Officials there tried to insulate themselves from what many saw as a clownish scheme unbound from law and evidence.
    — Maggie Haberman, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2024
  • This sugar plum pays his good fortune forward every day with whipping full-body tail wags, snuggles and clownish antics that make our house merry again.
    — Kitson Jazynka, chicagotribune.com, 18 Oct. 2019
  • This is especially the case in the way Silva makes Firstman’s clownish approach to life and fame both funnier and more melancholy than what the comedian projects in his viral posts.
    — Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Dressed in a classic red-and-black-checkered flannel, with patchwork pants and a droopy hat, this animatronic's clownish face and half-smile really come alive when his eyes flash red.
    — Kevin Cortez, Popular Mechanics, 15 Sep. 2022
  • The vulgar literary philosopher role is just another side of black-identity farce — now epitomized by the clownish movies Precious and Get Out.
    — Armond White, National Review, 15 Dec. 2023
  • Johnson’s perfecting of a campy clownish style of self-conscious exaggeration was crucial to the whole Brexit show.
    — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 13 May 2021
  • And a case in point of his something-for-everyone talents is exemplified in patterned shirt that takes a design that could be clownish in less capable hands (in this case polka dots) and blows it out (and up).
    — GQ, 26 Oct. 2017
  • Here is an alt-history of rap that cleverly mirrors its creative evolution, from clownish crowns to African medallions and memorials to gold grills.
    — Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 25 Nov. 2022
  • But naturally, some people find Roma and the Sisters off-putting because of their clownish makeup or the perception that their work mocks religion.
    — Daniel Villarreal, Vox, 5 Nov. 2018
  • The storied Batman villain, best portrayed by Heath Ledger in this 2012 film, has clownish roots that take a psychological and maniacal turn.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 9 Sep. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clownish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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