clownship en · NOUN
Etymology
From clown + -ship.
Meanings
-
(uncountable) The role or art of a clown.
When the miracle plays became too comic for the taste of the bishops, a generation of lay showmen carried on the tradition of clownship. The combination of showman and dramatist did not outlive the Elizabethans; […]
1926, The Twentieth Century, volume 99, page 450: