carny

• carney
• carnie

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑː(ɹ)ni/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ni

carny (plural carnies)

1. A person who works in a carnival (often one who uses exaggerated showmanship or fraud).
   • 1961, Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land, New York: Avon, Part , Chapter , p. 276,

     The Reverend Foster, self-ordained—or directly ordained by God, depending on authority cited—had an instinct for the pulse of his times stronger than that of a skilled carnie sizing up a mark.

   • 2012 May 20, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club‎:

     Bart spies an opportunity to make a quick buck so he channels his inner carny and posits his sinking house as a natural wonder of the world and its inhabitants as freaks, barking to dazzled spectators, “Behold the horrors of the Slanty Shanty! See the twisted creatures that dwell within! Meet Cue-Ball, the man with no hair!”

   Synonym: showie (Australia)

2. The jargon used by carnival workers.
3. A carnival.

• Caryn, Cryan

• zarny (obsolete)

From Proto-Slavic *čьrnъ.

• IPA^(key): [ˈtsarnɨ]

carny

1. black