Clown. It's a great word, and I use it often. Though not a great fan of emojis, the clown face one is the one I deploy most frequently when answering unwanted and insincere private messages on X. I do this because the meaning of the word 'clown' has changed considerably over the years. Once it meant a jester, a droll, an entertainer intent on causing jollity. Clowns could be wildly different - from Marcel Marceau to Morecambe and Wise - but their basic purpose was to add to the gaiety of nations.

Comedians aren't generally like this anymore. ('Comedian' has also taken on a less cheery alternative meaning; 'Looks like we've got ourselves a comedian!' TV policemen may sneer as an ineffectual criminal lies to them.) They're bitter and angry, mainly because the populace doesn't pay their pronouncements any mind at the polling station; painfully unfunny, lazy thinkers parroting the party line on there state-sanctioned group-think radio station (Radio 4) tittering about Donald Trump and Brexit.