The word "buffoon" originates from medieval Latin buffo "clown".  That was picked up as the Italian word buffone, meaning "jester" or "clown".   This word came from the Italian buffa, meaning "jest," and likely derives from the imitative sound buffare, "to puff" or "puff out cheeks," a common gesture in clowning. The French then borrowed the word as bouffon before it entered English in the 16th century. 

The word "buffoon" first appeared in English around the mid-1500s, with the earliest evidence from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) dated 1584.   Initially, it was used to refer to a professional jester or clown. It was likely adopted into English from French and Italian, which both used related words to describe someone who performs jokes or jests.  In the 1550s, it was a rare Scots word to describe a kind of pantomime folk dance, which in the late 16th century came to denote a professional jester. 

Examples of "buffoon" used in a sentence: 
"He has a keen sense of humor without becoming a buffoon." 
"When they have a complete buffoon running the country, the combination is explosive." 
"He was accused of being a buffoon, but he was also a brilliant strategist." 
"He loves to play the buffoon at parties to make his friends laugh." 
"The class clown was a bit of a buffoon, but his antics were mostly harmless." 
"He was not the buffoon that people said he was."  

Regularly, I,wonder if my comments on GA reveal that at heart I can be a buffoon.

Just the facts:

BUFFOON Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

BUFFOON Synonyms: 35 Similar Words | Merriam-Webster Thesaurus