Adjacent Words

Droll definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DROLL, a. [G.] Odd; merry; facetious; comical; as a droll fellow.
DROLL, n.
1. One whose occupation or practice is to raise mirth by odd tricks; a jester; a buffoon.
2. A farce; something exhibited to raise mirth or sport.
DROLL, v.i. To jest; to play the buffoon.
DROLL, v.t. To cheat.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: comical in an odd or whimsical manner; "a droll little man with a quiet tongue-in-cheek kind of humor"

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: French drôle, from drôle scamp, from Middle French drolle, from Middle Dutch, imp Date: 1623 having a humorous, whimsical, or odd quality <his dignified presence decorated our droll little quarters — Gwendolyn Brooks> • drollness noun • drolly adverb II. noun Date: circa 1645 an amusing person ; jester, comedian III. intransitive verb Date: 1654 archaic to make fun ; jest, sport

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 quaintly amusing. 2 strange; odd; surprising. --n. archaic 1 a jester; an entertainer. 2 a quaintly amusing person. Derivatives: drollery n. (pl. -ies). drolly adv. drollness n. Etymology: F dr{ocirc}le, perh. f. MDu. drolle little man

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Droll Droll, n. 1. One whose practice it is to raise mirth by odd tricks; a jester; a buffoon; a merry-andrew. --Prior. 2. Something exhibited to raise mirth or sport, as a puppet, a farce, and the like.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Droll Droll, a. [Compar. Droller; superl. Drollest.] [F. dr[^o]le; cf. G. & D. drollig, LG. drullig, D. drol a thick and short person, a droll, Sw. troll a magical appearance, demon, trolla to use magic arts, enchant, Dan. trold elf, imp, Icel. tr["o]ll giant, magician, evil spirit, monster. If this is the origin, cf. Trull.] Queer, and fitted to provoke laughter; ludicrous from oddity; amusing and strange. Syn: Comic; comical; farcical; diverting; humorous; ridiculous; queer; odd; waggish; facetious; merry; laughable; ludicrous. -- Droll, Laughable, Comical. Laughable is the generic term, denoting anything exciting laughter or worthy of laughter; comical denotes something of the kind exhibited in comedies, something humorous of the kind exhibited in comedies, something, as it were, dramatically humorous; droll stands lower on the scale, having reference to persons or things which excite laughter by their buffoonery or oddity. A laughable incident; a comical adventure; a droll story.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Droll Droll, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drolled; p. pr. & vb. n. Drolling.] To jest; to play the buffoon. [R.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Droll Droll, v. t. 1. To lead or influence by jest or trick; to banter or jest; to cajole. Men that will not be reasoned into their senses, may yet be laughed or drolled into them. --L'Estrange. 2. To make a jest of; to set in a comical light. [R.] This drolling everything is rather fatiguing. -- W. D. Howells.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Something or someone that is droll is amusing or witty, sometimes in an unexpected way. (WRITTEN) The band have a droll sense of humour. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Jester (by profession), buffoon, harlequin, mountebank, punch, punchinello, clown, zany, scaramouch, fool, jack-pudding, merryandrew, pickle-herring. 2. Farce, comic show. II. a. 1. Comic, comical, funny, ludicrous, farcical, laughable, ridiculous. 2. Odd, queer, facetious, waggish, amusing, diverting. III. v. n. Jest, act the buffoon, play the droll.

Moby Thesaurus

Attic, absurd, amusing, biting, bizarre, brilliant, clever, comedian, comic, comical, eccentric, facetious, farcical, funny, funnyman, hilarious, humorous, humorsome, incongruous, jester, jesting, jocose, jocular, joker, jokester, joking, joky, joshing, keen, keen-witted, laughable, ludicrous, mordant, nimble-witted, pointed, preposterous, priceless, pungent, quaint, quick-witted, quipster, quizzical, rapier-like, rich, ridiculous, risible, salt, salty, scintillating, screaming, sharp, smart, sparkling, sprightly, wag, whimsical, wit, witty