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Definition--amusingly crazy.

Discussion--a zany person was often a ludicrous, outlandish character in old comedies. While some will say the zanier the better, others prefer more decorum.

Etymology--Zany comes to us from the Italian zani meaning a buffoon, which comes from Zanni which is a dialectal variant of the name Gianni. Gianni is a familiar form for Giovanni which the Italian form of John.