tragic clown
Sad painted performer
A tragic clown is a figure whose comic exterior masks deep sorrow—the performer who makes others laugh while suffering privately.
The archetype appears throughout art and literature, from Pagliacci to Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown." More broadly, it describes anyone whose public cheerfulness conceals personal anguish: He was the tragic clown of the friend group, always joking through his depression.
- sadEmotionally low
- sad faceDowncast expression
- tearsViolent pulls apart
- makeupProducts for beautifying faces
- painted smileInsincere displayed happiness
melancholy · laughter · mask · harlequin · weeping · comedy · pathos · circus · red nose · big shoes · painted · smile · sorrow · fool · mime · silent film · bittersweet · performance
- clownsbozo, sad face, painted smile, face paint, greasepaint
- physical performancemime, pantomime, acrobatics, contortion, juggling
tragic, clown, tragedy, tragedies, tragically, tragedian, tragicomedy, tragicomic, clowns