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View synonyms for Punchinello

Punchinello

[ puhn-chuh-nel-oh ]

noun

, plural Pun·chi·nel·los, Pun·chi·nel·loes.
  1. a grotesque or absurd chief character in a puppet show of Italian origin: the prototype of Punch.
  2. any similarly grotesque or absurd person or thing.


Punchinello

/ ˌpʌntʃɪˈnɛləʊ /

noun

  1. a type of clown from Italian burlesque or puppet shows, the prototype of Punch
  2. sometimes not capital any grotesque or absurd character
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of Punchinello1

1660–70; < Italian (Naples dial.) polecenella character in the puppet show, diminutive of polecana turkey-cock chick < Late Latin pullicēnus, derivative of Latin pullus pullet
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Word History and Origins

Origin of Punchinello1

C17: from earlier Polichinello, from Italian (Neapolitan dialect) Polecenella, from Italian pulcino chicken, ultimately from Latin pullus young animal
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Example Sentences

The work features Punchinello, the hook-nosed, humpbacked clowns who were some of the stock characters taken from the Commedia dell' Arte - an early form of professional theatre.

From BBC

The great series of Punchinello drawings initiated by that gossamer-handed Venetian, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and vastly elaborated by his son Giovanni Domenico, was conceived as both a caprice and a social farce, one we can identity with today: a vision of a world run by venal clowns.

In profile she resembles a cute Punchinello, her cheeks expressive, painted, and the nose carved for comic effect.

Bleasdale, who then worked as a part-time waitress at a local Italian restaurant, Punchinello's in Chorley, showed an immediate aptitude for "flinging myself across a bar on a stick".

"I had to give up at Punchinello's but my sister still works there."

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punch inpunching bag