Histrion. Male noun, masculine noun. An ancient actor who played crude jokes, with flute accompaniment. Literary, ridiculous charlatan: A political histrion. Histrion designates, in the field of the theater of Roman antiquity, a comic actor, a comedian who played farces. Synonyms: actor, comedian, jester. Histrion designates, by extension, a bad comedian, a clown. From Latin histrio (“actor”). (By extension) A character who makes a spectacle of himself by using outrageous effects. Synonym: Pitre. Derivatives: Histrionage, histrionic, histrionisme, histrionner. Bâteleur, baladin, player of jokes. Comedian and in particular pantomime. 16th century. Borrowed from Latin, mime, comedian, boaster, embarrassment maker. The feminine Histrionne is sometimes used. Other synonyms: turlupin, joker, puppet, polichinelle. A grotesque buffoon whose sallies, lascivious pantomimes and licentious performances disturb the senses of the audience. Histrionic personality disorder is characterized by a pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking. A somatoform disorder that affects a person’s thinking, perception and relationship with others.