🎭 A puppet show 🤡 A comic puppet 😜 A silly person 🎪 A farcical event

guignol

9.9

The main funny puppet character in traditional French shows

noun
/ɡiˈnɔl/

: personaje de guiñol

The children laughed as the guignol performed silly tricks and clever jokes during the puppet show.

Examples

At the festival, a guignol entertained the audience with his witty humor and playful antics.
Everyone enjoyed the guignol performance, where the clever puppet made everyone laugh with his hilarious behavior.
Arlequin and the Capitan (from the guignol and commedia traditions) are fully accompanied by their supporting players.

Academic text (2000)

Synonyms

puppet

vsguignol

178 1.9

A doll moved by hand or strings for shows

is specifically a clever comic character performed using such figures in France

punchinello

vsguignol

Archaic

1 9.9

A funny puppet or person who acts silly to make people laugh

is a clever main comic character specific to French puppet theatre

gracioso

vsguignol

Literature

9.9

A funny servant character in old Spanish plays who makes jokes and mocks people

is mainly witty and focused on clever humor rather than satirical commentary

auguste

vsguignol

Jargon

9.9

A funny clown who acts silly and makes mistakes to make people laugh

is more clever and witty rather than openly foolish or exaggerated

Compounds

Grand Guignol

NSFW

1 9.9

A play or film with shocking bloody scenes meant to frighten the audience

How Comic

buffoon

Offensive

43 7.4

guignol

9.9

comic

145 2.5

to clown

Informal

37 3.0

Surface Forms

guignol singular

guignols plural

Etymology

Guignol was originally the name of a clever, funny puppet created for the streets of Lyon, and the puppet became so well known that the name now means the main comic puppet in a traditional French show.