different between jocular vs droll

English

Etymology

From Latin iocularis, from ioculus (“a little jest”), diminutive of iocus (“a jest”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d??kj?l?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?d??kj?l?/

Adjective

jocular (comparative more jocular, superlative most jocular)

1. Humorous, amusing or joking.

   He was in a jocular mood all day.

   All we had was a short and jocular conversation.

   • 1865, Horatio Alger, Paul Prescott's Charge, chapter IV:

     From the tone of the speaker, the last words might be understood to be jocular.

   • 1896, H. G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau, chapter 15:

     Sometimes he would notice it, pat it, call it half-mocking, half-jocular names, and so make it caper with extraordinary delight.

   • 1910, Stephen Leacock, The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones:

     Then papa began to get very tired of Jones, and fidgeted and finally said, with jocular irony, that Jones had better stay all night, they could give him a shake-down.

Synonyms

• (humorous): jokey, silly, joculous; see also Thesaurus:witty

Antonyms

• (humorous): heartfelt, serious, sincere

Derived terms

Related terms

• joke

Translations

Further reading

• jocular in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• jocular in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• jocular at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

From French drôle (“comical, odd, funny”), from drôle (“buffoon”) from Middle French drolle (“a merry fellow, pleasant rascal”) from Old French drolle (“one who lives luxuriously”), from Middle Dutch drol (“fat little man, goblin”) from Old Norse troll (“giant, troll”) (compare Middle High German trolle (“clown”)), from Proto-Germanic *truzl? (“creature which walks clumsily”), from *truzlan? (“to walk with short steps”). Doublet of troll.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d???l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /d?o?l/
• Rhymes: -??l

Adjective

droll (comparative droller, superlative drollest)

1. Oddly humorous; whimsical, amusing in a quaint way; waggish.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:witty

Derived terms

• drollery
• drollness
• drolly

Translations

Noun

droll (plural drolls)

1. (archaic) A funny person; a buffoon, a wag.
   • 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, vol I, ch. 34:

     The lieutenant was a droll in his way, Peregrine possessed a great fund of sprightliness and good humour, and Godfrey, among his other qualifications already recited, sung a most excellent song […] .

Verb

droll (third-person singular simple present drolls, present participle drolling, simple past and past participle drolled)

1. (archaic) To jest, to joke.

Anagrams

• roll'd

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tr?tl/
• Rhymes: -?tl

Noun

droll n (genitive singular drolls, no plural)

1. dawdling, loitering

Declension

Related terms

• drolla