constant jackanapery
- noun
- Archaic
:
tonterías constantes
- Her manager grew tired of his constant jackanapery during meetings.
Examples
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The teacher warned the class that constant jackanapery would not be tolerated.
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Despite his intelligence, his constant jackanapery often distracted his coworkers.
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His constant jackanapery annoys everyone in the office.
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Why does she engage in such constant jackanapery?
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His constant jackanapery made it hard for anyone to take him seriously at work.
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The constant jackanapery of the comedian kept the audience laughing throughout the show.
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Teachers often find that constant jackanapery disrupts the learning environment in the classroom.
Synonyms
29
2.6
Playful or foolish behavior that is not serious and often funny
1
9.9
Behavior that is foolish, annoying, and often meant to make people laugh
1
6.8
A very silly or crazy way of behaving that makes people laugh
1
8.2
Being very foolish and not willing to change, causing mistakes
Very foolish behavior that makes no sense
Antonyms
How Silly
Surface Forms
Morphology
constant + jackanapery
The phrase is a straightforward adjectival modification: 'constant' (continuous) + 'jackanapery' (foolish behaviour) yields 'persistently foolish behaviour', so the meaning follows directly from the constituents. Note that 'jackanapery' is rare/archaic and may be unknown to many learners, but if a B1 learner knows both words the compound sense is fully compositional and predictable.
Etymology
Constant jackanapery comes from the old word jackanapes, which meant a cheeky, monkey-like person. Imagine someone acting like a playful monkey over and over, and you can see why the phrase means 'foolish or silly' behavior.