4 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Zany \Za"ny\, v. t.
To mimic. [Obs.]
Your part is acted; give me leave at distance To zany
it --Massinger.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Zany \Za"ny\, n.; pl {Zanies}. [It. zanni a buffoon,
merry-andrew, orig. same as Giovanni John, i. e., merry John,
L. Ioannes Gr ?, Heb. Y[=o]kh[=a]n[=a]n, prop., the Lord
graciously gave: cf F. zani, fr the Italian. Cf
{Jenneting}.]
A merry-andrew; a buffoon.
Then write that I may follow and so be Thy echo, thy
debtor, thy foil, thy zany. --Donne.
Preacher at once, and zany of thy age. --Pope.
From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]:
zany
adj 1: (informal terms) "gave me a cockamamie reason for not
going"; "wore a goofy hat"; "a silly idea"; "some
wacky plan for selling more books" [syn: {cockamamie},
{cockamamy}, {fool(a)}, {goofy}, {sappy}, {silly}, {wacky},
{unreasonable}]
2: like a clown; "a buffoonish walk"; "a clownish face"; "a
zany sense of humor" [syn: {buffoonish}, {clownish}, {clowlike}]
n 1: a buffoon in one of the old comedies; imitates others for
ludicrous effect
2: a stupid fool [syn: {fathead}, {goof}, {jackass}, {goose}, {cuckoo}]
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
ZANY, n. A popular character in old Italian plays, who imitated with
ludicrous incompetence the _buffone_, or clown, and was therefore the
ape of an ape; for the clown himself imitated the serious characters
of the play. The zany was progenitor to the specialist in humor, as
we to-day have the unhappiness to know him In the zany we see an
example of creation; in the humorist, of transmission. Another
excellent specimen of the modern zany is the curate, who apes the
rector, who apes the bishop, who apes the archbishop, who apes the
devil.
more about zany
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