merry-andrew
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Persons who naïvely mistake me for a merry-andrew with an inflated pig’s bladder can never understand that I adore whichever tradition I am striving to follow,” he said in a 1980 interview.
From The New Yorker • Jul. 30, 2014
My very breath was arrested when I saw the merry-andrew you made of yourself.
From A Very Naughty Girl by Meade, L. T.
At present, by the ministration of Atimetus, her minion, and the merry-andrew Paris, she is framing a farce to fit for the stage.
From Roman Women by Brittain, Alfred
The whistling match was not so dangerous a contest; the prize was conferred upon the whistler who could whistle clearest, and go through his tune while a clown, or merry-andrew, made laughable grimaces before him.
From Old English Sports, Pastimes and Customs by Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
Beneath is a mountebank, exalted on a stage, eating fire to attract the public attention; while his merry-andrew behind is distributing his medicines.
From The Works of William Hogarth: In a Series of Engravings With Descriptions, and a Comment on Their Moral Tendency by Trusler, John
