11 May 2015

zany

[zey-nee]

adjective, zanier, zaniest.
1. ludicrously or whimsically comical; clownish.
noun, plural zanies.
2. one who plays the clown or fool in order to amuse others.
3. a comically wild or eccentric person.
4. a secondary stock character in old comedies who mimicked his master.
5. a professional buffoon; clown.
6. a silly person; simpleton.
7. a slavish attendant or follower.

Origin of zany
Middle French, Italian
1560-1570; (< Middle French) < Italian zan (n) i (later zanno) a servant character in the commedia dell’arte, perhaps orig. the character’s name, the Upper Italian form of Tuscan Gianni, for Giovanni John

Related forms
zanily, adverb
zaniness, zanyism, noun
zanyish, adjective

Synonyms
3. kook, crazy, lunatic.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the web for zany Expand
– He made only a brief, humorous reference to Mitt having called him “ zany.”
(Newt Gingrich, Under Fire, Plays Clumsy Defense in Fox News Iowa Debate Howard Kurtz December 15, 2011)

– The proliferation of zany burger toppings came next as an inevitable by-product of the high-end burger fad.
(Have We Reached ‘Peak Burger’? The Crazy Fetishization of Our Most Basic Comfort Food Brandon Presser July 30, 2014)

– Once you read Ngai’s account of it, you’ll see ” zany ” everywhere.
(Zany, Cute, Interesting: What the Words We Use Say About Us Benjamin Lytal October 22, 2012)

Today’s aphorism

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.

– Confucius

On this day

11 May 1904 – birth of Salvador Dali, Spanish surrealist painter. Died 23 January 1989.

11 May 1981 – death of Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer and musician. Born 6 February 1945.

11 May 1985 – death of Chester Gould, American creator of the cartoon strip, ‘Dick Tracy’. He drew the comic strip from 1931 to 1977. Born 20 November 1900.