- Droll
- 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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.