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zany |
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.
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