Harlequinade

/hˈɑːlɪkwˌɪne‍ɪd/

/hˈɑːɹlɪkwˌɪneɪd/

[noun]

Harlequinade

[NOUN]

involving competition or competitiveness

synonyms : competitive

competitory

antonyms : noncompetitive

acting like a clown or buffoon

synonyms : buffoonery

a traditional theatrical genre that originated in Italy and features the character of Harlequin as the main protagonist in a comedy of love and mistaken identity

Examples

1. The clothes remained vaguely Elizabethan, but they hinted at commedia dell’arte and the harlequinade, so that combined with the rococo details of the set and the autumnal yellows of the lighting they seemed to place the play’s action in an eighteenth-century fête galante from a Watteau painting.