Definition of "harlequin" []

• A conventional buffoon of the commedia dell'arte, traditionally presented in a mask and parti-colored tights. (noun)
• A clown; a buffoon. (noun)
• Having a pattern of brightly colored diamond shapes. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Of course then there is the desert in harlequin, it comes from the first Harleqin I ever read and it will always be a fav"
• "The film is "just an excuse for Tykwer to wallow in harlequin muck - sometimes thrilling but mostly tacky," writes Ed Gonzalez at Slant - before he really gets angry at it."
• "The study examines the recent extinctions of species of Atelopus, also know as the harlequin frogs (even though they apparently belong to the toad family), which live in the American tropics."