droll

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: F. drôle; 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. tröll giant, magician, evil spirit, monster. If this is the origin, cf. Trull.

Queer, and fitted to provoke laughter; ludicrous from oddity; amusing and strange.

Synonyms: 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.

1. One whose practice it is to raise mirth by odd tricks; a jester; a buffoon; a merry-andrew. Matthew Prior

2. Something exhibited to raise mirth or sport, as a puppet, a farce, and the like.

To jest; to play the buffoon. rare

1. To lead or influence by jest or trick; to banter or jest; to cajole.

Men that will not be reasoned into their senses, may yet be laughed or drolled into them.— Sir Roger L'Estrange

2. To make a jest of; to set in a comical light. rare

This drolling everything is rather fatiguing.— William Dean Howells

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54