i Register
In some senses, zany is marked as archaic, obsolete. Watch for register when choosing this word.
adj
Unusual and awkward in a funny, comical manner; outlandish; clownish.
And I will admit now but never then that, more than once, listening to the Viennese chattering their zany German on the pavements, or taking himself to one of the struggling small theatres that were cropping up in cellars and bombed houses...
Press articles emphasized his [Dizzy Gillespie's] ambassadorial role and drew attention to the paradox that he was a shrewd musician and leader despite his zany image.
Ludicrously or incongruously comical.
noun
A fool or clown, especially one whose business on the stage is to imitate foolishly the actions of the principal clown.
Then write that I may follow, and so be / Thy echo, thy debtor, thy foil, thy zany.
O great restorer of the good old stage, / Preacher at once, and Zany of thy age!
verb
To mimic foolishly.