Droll

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Droll \Droll\ (dr[=o]l), a. [Compar. {Droller}; superl.
     {Drollest}.] [F. dr[^o]le; cf. G. & D. drollig, LG. drullig,
     D. drol a thick and short person, a droll, Sw. troll a
     magical appearance, demon, trolla to use magic arts, enchant,
     Dan. trold elf, imp, Icel. tr["o]ll giant, magician, evil
     spirit, monster. If this is the origin, cf. {Trull}.]


     Queer, and fitted to provoke laughter; ludicrous from oddity;
     amusing and strange.
  
     Syn: 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.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Droll \Droll\, n.
     1. One whose practice it is to raise mirth by odd tricks; a
        jester; a buffoon; a merry-andrew. --Prior.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Something exhibited to raise mirth or sport, as a puppet,
        a farce, and the like.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Droll \Droll\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Drolled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Drolling}.]
     To jest; to play the buffoon. [R.]
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Droll \Droll\, v. t.
     1. To lead or influence by jest or trick; to banter or jest;
        to cajole.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Men that will not be reasoned into their senses, may
              yet be laughed or drolled into them.  --L'Estrange.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To make a jest of; to set in a comical light. [R.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              This drolling everything is rather fatiguing. -- W.
                                                    D. Howells.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  droll
       adj : comical in an odd or whimsical manner; "a droll little man
             with a quiet tongue-in-cheek kind of humor"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  58 Moby Thesaurus words for "droll":
     Attic, absurd, amusing, biting, bizarre, brilliant, clever,
     comedian, comic, comical, eccentric, facetious, farcical, funny,
     funnyman, hilarious, humorous, humorsome, incongruous, jester,
     jesting, jocose, jocular, joker, jokester, joking, joky, joshing,
     keen, keen-witted, laughable, ludicrous, mordant, nimble-witted,
     pointed, preposterous, priceless, pungent, quaint, quick-witted,
     quipster, quizzical, rapier-like, rich, ridiculous, risible, salt,
     salty, scintillating, screaming, sharp, smart, sparkling,
     sprightly, wag, whimsical, wit, witty