zany

za·ny

Use zany in a sentence

A zany couple.

adjective

The definition of zany is something or someone silly or unusual.

A person who is odd and who doesn't fit the normal mold is an example of someone who would be described as zany.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"Zany." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/ZANY.

APA Style

Zany. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ZANY

zany

noun

pl. -·nies

a clown or buffoon; specif., a former stock character in comedies who clownishly aped the principal actors
a silly or foolish person; simpleton

Origin of zany

French zani from Italian dialect, dialectal (Venetian) zani, zanni, a zany, clown, origin, originally a familiar abbreviation, abbreviated pronunciation of Giovanni, John

adjective

-·nier, -·ni·est

of or characteristic of a zany; specif.,

comical in an extravagantly ludicrous or slapstick manner
foolish or crazy

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"Zany." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/ZANY.

APA Style

Zany. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ZANY

zany

adjective

za·ni·er, za·ni·est

Comical or ludicrous because of incongruity or strangeness.

noun

pl. za·nies

A comical person given to extravagant or outlandish behavior.
A ludicrous, buffoonish character in old comedies who attempts feebly to mimic the tricks of the clown.

Origin of zany

French zani from Italian dialectal zanni from Zanni variant of Italian Gianni nickname for Giovanni John, the name of servants who act as clowns in commedia dell'arte

Related Forms:

za′ni·ly
adverb

za′ni·ness
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"Zany." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/ZANY.

APA Style

Zany. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ZANY

Adjective

(comparative zanier, superlative zaniest)

unusual and bizarre in a funny, comical way; outlandish; clownish
ludicrously or incongruously comical

Noun

(plural zanies)

Alexander Pope
Preacher at once, and zany of thy age.
1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4
So there he caught me lying like a zany on the ground. You may guess I stood at attention soon enough, but told him I was looking at the founds to see if they wanted underpinning from the floods.

Origin

From Italian zanni (a kind of masked clown character), itself (when capitalized) a dialectal form of Giovanni.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.