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harlequin
[ hahr-luh-kwin, -kin ]
noun
- (often initial capital letter) a comic character in commedia dell'arte and the harlequinade, usually masked, dressed in multicolored, diamond-patterned tights, and carrying a wooden sword or magic wand.
- a buffoon.
- any of various small snakes having bright diamond-pattern scales.
adjective
- fancifully varied in color, decoration, etc.:
harlequin pants.
- resembling a harlequin's mask:
harlequin glasses.
harlequin
/ ˈhɑːlɪkwɪn /
noun
- sometimes capital theatre a stock comic character originating in the commedia dell'arte; the foppish lover of Columbine in the English harlequinade. He is usually represented in diamond-patterned multicoloured tights, wearing a black mask
- a clown or buffoon
adjective
- varied in colour or decoration
- (of certain animals) having a white coat with irregular patches of black or other dark colour
harlequin Great Dane
- comic; ludicrous
Other Words From
- harle·quin·ism noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of harlequin1
Word History and Origins
Origin of harlequin1
Example Sentences
The intricate beading in graphic harlequin patterns gave the garments a sense of grandeur and importance.
The Harlequin hardback, out today, is appropriately dubbed: Sh*t Girls Say.
The publishing house Harlequin enjoys a near monopoly in the romance genre.
The protagonist of every book Harlequin puts out has to pass an editorial smell test as being “realistic.”
Another way that Harlequin is adapting is through the same technology that has enabled self-publishing.
She plays with Captain Lovelock as a child does with a wooden harlequin, she pulls a string and he throws up his arms and legs.
Haggard had disappeared with the celerity of a harlequin who jumps through a trap.
The carpet was of red baize with a Turkish border, and figured in the middle like an harlequin's jacket.
Harlequin had recruited a columbine and a shepherdess, and he introduced these ladies as partners for the promised minuet.
The gods of the Renaissance, in whom no one any longer believed, glided into the costumes of Harlequin and Pierrette.
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