buffoonery

When buffoonery refers to immature joking around, some synonyms include shenanigans, tomfoolery, clowning, antics, and high jinks.

The word horseplay can mean something similar, but it often involves playing rough (roughhousing). Buffoonery usually implies behavior that’s silly and perhaps immature or inappropriate, but not necessarily rough.

Sometimes, buffoonery refers to a particularly silly kind of humor or comedy. Similar words include slapstick and farce. Slapstick is a kind of absurd physical humor, like a person throwing a pie in someone’s face or stepping on a rake. Farce refers to a kind of comedy that usually involves a ridiculous situation.

Buffoonery isn’t a very common word, but it’s a real one (no joke).

Buffoonery comes from the word buffoon, which refers to a kind of clown or, more figuratively, to a person who’s foolish and undignified. In buffoonery, the ending -ery indicates a kind of behavior—it’s used the same way in the synonym tomfoolery and in words like trickery and quackery.

The word buffoon itself has been used since at least the mid-1500s and comes from the Italian verb buffare, meaning “to puff up one’s cheeks.” Picture someone puffing up their cheeks and “popping” them to make a pfft noise—that’s buffoonery.

Buffoonery isn’t necessarily rare, but it’s not used that often. It’s probably more common to call someone a buffoon than to accuse them of buffoonery.

Here are some examples of buffoonery in a sentence:

• I teach sixth grade, so I’m used to having to deal with buffoonery on a daily basis.
• The play is full of the kind of physical comedy and buffoonery that fans of the Three Stooges will appreciate.