one who plays the clown or fool in order to amuse others.
a comically wild or eccentric person.
a secondary stock character in old comedies who mimicked his master.
a professional buffoon; clown.
a silly person; simpleton.
a slavish attendant or follower.
Origin of zany
1560–70; (<Middle French ) <Italian zan(n)i (later zanno) a servant character in the commedia dell’arte, perhaps originally the character's name, the Upper Italian form of Tuscan Gianni, for Giovanni John
With US regulatory boards making it easier for new products to reach the market during the coronavirus emergency, a slew of solutions—from zany to ingenious—have become available.
How to design an office that employees will want to return to|Anne Quito|August 9, 2020|Quartz
A remembrance of the zany, ad-libbing actor who made us laugh and cry.
Robin Williams, Hollywood’s Grand Jester, Is Dead at 63|Marlow Stern|August 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The proliferation of zany burger toppings came next as an inevitable by-product of the high-end burger fad.
Have We Reached ‘Peak Burger’? The Crazy Fetishization of Our Most Basic Comfort Food|Brandon Presser|July 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was the zany TV interview he conducted with Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS-TV that made him an instant viral celebrity.
Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker, Viral Star, Now an Alleged Killer|Marlow Stern|May 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Look at her zany appearance with Dave Letterman about tweeting on Ambien for proof of that.
Kristin Chenoweth on Her Darker Role in ‘Family Weekend’|Kevin Fallon|March 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Aside from the zany plot, the film stretches the bounds of realism thanks to its bloody zombie kills.
The Anti-‘Zero Dark Thirty:’ The Osama bin Laden-Meets-Zombies Movie|Marlow Stern|December 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
That's why Dr. Brownlee and his boys want to study every zany we bring in, whether he can be helped or not.
Nor Iron Bars a Cage....|Gordon Randall Garrett
A good many of our kind of zany do drink or take drugs—about fifty per cent of them.
Nor Iron Bars a Cage....|Gordon Randall Garrett
He knew that so long as he obeyed orders he would be unharmed, and he would have been a zany had he hesitated to do so.
Two Boys in Wyoming|Edward S. Ellis
Boswell's Tour of the Hebrides was "the story of a mountebank and his zany."
The London Mercury, Vol. I, Nos. 1-6, November 1919 to April 1920|Various
The zany was progenitor to the specialist in humor, as we to-day have the unhappiness to know him.
The Devil's Dictionary|Ambrose Bierce
British Dictionary definitions for zany
zany
/ (ˈzeɪnɪ) /
adjective-nieror-niest
comical in an endearing way; imaginatively funny or comical, esp in behaviour
nounplural-nies
a clown or buffoon, esp one in old comedies who imitated other performers with ludicrous effect
a ludicrous or foolish person
Derived forms of zany
zanily, adverbzaniness, nounzanyism, noun
Word Origin for zany
C16: from Italian zanni, from dialect (Venice and Lombardy) Zanni, nickname for Giovanni John; one of the traditional names for a clown