merry-andrew

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: mer=ry-an=drew

CIDE DICTIONARY

merry-andrew, n. 

 One whose business is to make sport for others; a buffoon; a zany; especially, one who attends a mountebank or quack doctor.  [1913 Webster]
" This term is said to have originated from one Andrew Borde, an English physician of the 16th century, who gained patients by facetious speeches to the multitude."  [1913 Webster]

ROGET THESAURUS

merry-andrew

Humorist

N humorist, wag, wit, reparteeist, epigrammatist, punster, bel esprit, life of the party, wit-snapper, wit-cracker, wit- worm, joker, jester, Joe Miller, drole de corps, gaillard, spark, bon diable, practical joker, buffoon, farceur, merry-andrew, mime, tumbler, acrobat, mountebank, charlatan, posturemaster, harlequin, punch, pulcinella, scaramouch, clown, wearer of the cap and bells, wearer of the motley, motley fool, pantaloon, gypsy, jack-pudding, jack in the green, jack a dandy, wiseacre, wise guy, smartass, fool, zany, madcap, pickle-herring, witling, caricaturist, grimacier, persifleur.