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pagliaccio

clown

noun pah-LYAHT-choh Rare
Arts & Culture Performance

Origin: From paglia (straw), for the straw-stuffed costume of the clown.

Also means

buffoon

Usage Note

Pagliaccio refers to a clown or a buffoon. The famous opera Pagliacci (Leoncavallo, 1892) has made this word internationally recognisable. Used figuratively, fare il pagliaccio (to play the clown) means to fool around. The plural is i pagliacci.

Examples

"Il bambino rideva del pagliaccio al circo."

Natural Translation

The child laughed at the clown at the circus.

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