DROLL • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Droll

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adjective

Droll adj. (compar. droller; superl. drollest) Queer, and fitted to provoke laughter; ludicrous from oddity; amusing and strange.

Synonyms: 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.

verb

Droll v. t.

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."

To make a jest of; to set in a comical light. (R.) "This drolling everything is rather fatiguing."

Droll v. i. (past & past part. drolled; pres. part. drolling) To jest; to play the buffoon. (R.)

noun

Droll n.

One whose practice it is to raise mirth by odd tricks; a jester; a buffoon; a merry-andrew.

Something exhibited to raise mirth or sport, as a puppet, a farce, and the like.

See images of 'Droll'

Etymology of 'Droll'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Droll" Quotes from Famous Books

... instinct; and instinct—according to my late relative, Wilkie Collins—never errs, though reason often does so, as we know to our cost. Now, the picaninny knows what is good for him. Place him in promixity to a dust-hole or an ash-heap, and observe what takes place. He approaches it with that droll, yet pathetic, method of locomotion peculiar to his period of life—travelling on both hands and one knee, whilst with the big toe of the other hind-foot he propels himself along. In the very centre of the dirt, he deftly whirls into a sitting ...

— Such is Life • Joseph Furphy

... by Miraut's loud barking, had risen and joined his master at the door. As soon as he was informed of what had occurred, he lighted a lantern, and with the baron set forth, under the guidance of the droll old actor, to find and rescue the chariot in distress. When they reached it Leander and Matamore were tugging vainly at the wheels, while his majesty, the king, pricked up the weary oxen with the point of his dagger. The actresses, wrapped in their ...

— Captain Fracasse • Theophile Gautier

... Robin laughed at the droll sight, he knew the wayfarer to be a certain rich corn engrosser of Worksop, who more than once had bought all the grain in the countryside and held it till it reached even famine prices, thus making much money from the needs of poor ...

— The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood • Howard Pyle

... The droll remarks of the Quarterly, and Hunt's kind defence, arrived as safe as such poison, and safer than ...

— Selected English Letters (XV - XIX Centuries) • Various

... be so kind as to bring up all my journal with you. My Papa has promised me, he will bring up my baby house with him. I shall send you a droll figure of a young lady,[64] in or under, which you please, a tasty head Dress. It was taken from a print that came over in one of the last ships from London. After you have sufficiently amused yourself with it I am willing ...

— Diary of Anna Green Winslow - A Boston School Girl of 1771 • Anna Green Winslow

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