clownesque
\klu.nɛsk\
The verdict
“clownesque” is uncommon French (frequency #88,463 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #88,463
- frequency rank, French
- 8,609
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Relatif aux clowns.
Corpus desk
Index FR-clownesque · clownesque · French
clownesque · rank #88,463 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #88,463
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 8,609
- PHOTO-FINISH clicks
Nearest frequency peer: clicks (-2 rank slots)
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Rangs de longue queue près de « clownesque »
Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court
- chloroquine
chloroquine
11,544 corpus weight
- clearing
clearing
11,541 corpus weight
- clicks
clicks
11,540 corpus weight
- clownesque
clownesque
11,538 corpus weight
- Clytemnestre
Clytemnestre
11,536 corpus weight
- codifiés
codifiés
11,533 corpus weight
What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « clownesque » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | clownesque |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \klu.nɛsk\ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #88,463 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « clownesque » en français
Rare enough to double-check
clownesque is uncommon French at frequency #88,463 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \klu.nɛsk\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
clownesque doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is clownesque, spelled C-L-O-W-N-E-S-Q-U-E.
Definition
- 1Relatif aux clowns.
- 2Qui rappelle la drôlerie des clowns, leurs grimaces ou leurs maladresses.
- 3Dont le ridicule fait penser aux clowns.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how clownesque appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Bientôt, tous deux paraissaient dans l’arène, en tête du bataillon clownesque, vêtus de costumes à la fois singuliers et coquets, et Nello jetant, ma foi, en fort bon anglais au public la phrase consacrée des clowns : « Here we are again — all of a lump ! How are you ? »
A de telles époques, où peuvent trouver place les formidables goinfreries de gaieté du vieux Breughel ? Où le rire net et chantant de Jacques Callot ? Où la brutalité puissante d’Hogarth ? Où le débordement clownesque de Rowlandson ?
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "clownesque", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).