Phrasal verb
clown about
Definition
phrasal verb. to behave in a silly or funny way to make people laugh.
phrasal verb. to engage in silly, playful, or foolish behavior, often to amuse others or to avoid being serious; carries a colloquial register.
Examples
“Stop clowning about and finish your homework.”
“The children were clowning about in the garden while their parents tried to have a serious conversation.”
“The director grew frustrated when the lead actors continued clowning about on set instead of rehearsing the final dramatic scene.”
Examples
simple
“Stop clowning about and finish your homework.”
contextual
“The children were clowning about in the garden while their parents tried to have a serious conversation.”
complex
“The director grew frustrated when the lead actors continued clowning about on set instead of rehearsing the final dramatic scene.”
Usage
often used in the continuous form to describe ongoing behavior.
Teaching tip
contrast with 'mess around' or 'fool around'; 'clown about' specifically evokes the image of a circus performer and is slightly more focused on being funny.
Pitfall
He was clowning about the room.
He was clowning about.
in this sense, 'about' is an adverbial particle, not a preposition, so it does not usually take a direct object of place.
Phrasal verb
Particles
about
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
clown + about
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/clown-about