Droll

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˈdɹəʊl/, /ˈdɹɔʊl/
• US IPA: /ˈdɹoÊŠl/, /ˈdɹlÌ©/
• Rhymes: -əʊl

Origin

From French drôle ("comical, odd, funny"), from drôle ("buffoon") from Middle French drolle ("a merry fellow, pleasant rascal") from Old French drolle ("one who lives luxuriously"), from Middle Dutch drol ("fat little man, goblin") from Old Norse troll ("giant, troll") (compare Middle High German trolle ("clown")), from Proto-Germanic *truzlą ("creature which walks clumsily"), from Proto-Germanic *truzlaną ("to walk with short steps"). More at troll.

Full definition of droll

Adjective

1. oddly humorous; whimsical, amusing in a quaint way; waggish

Synonyms

Derived terms

• drollery
• drolly
• drollness

Noun

1. (archaic) A buffoon
• Joyce Ulysses, Episode 12, The CyclopsOur two inimitable drolls did a roaring trade with their broadsheets among lovers of the comedy element and nobody who has a corner in his heart for real Irish fun without vulgarity will grudge them their hardearned pennies.

Verb

1. (archaic) To joke, to jest.
• 1886, Robert Louise Stevenson, Kidnapped"Eh, man," said I, drolling with him a little, "you're very ingenious! But would it not be simpler for you to write him a few words in black and white?

Anagrams

• roll'd