comedy Hear it!

comedy definition

com·edy (käm′ə dē)

noun pl. comedies -·dies

  1. Obsolete a drama or narrative with a happy ending or nontragic theme Dante's Divine Comedy
    1. any of various types of play or film with a more or less humorous treatment of characters and situation and a happy ending
    2. such plays collectively
    3. the branch of drama having to do with such plays
    4. the writing, acting, or theoretical principles of this kind of drama
  3. a novel or any narrative having a comic theme, tone, etc.
  4. the comic element in a literary work, or in life
  5. an amusing or comic event or sequence of events

Etymology: ME & OFr comedie < L comoedia < Gr kōmōidia < kōmos, revel, carousal + aeidein, to sing: see ode

comedy Idioms

cut the comedy

Slang to stop joking

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

comedy Synonyms

comedy

n.

comic drama, burlesque, light entertainment; see drama 1, 2, parody.

Types of comedies include: high comedy, low comedy, satirical comedy, comedy of manners, musical comedy, situation comedy, sitcom, farce, skit, interlude, tragicomedy, play of wit, satire, travesty, burlesque; gag show*, laugh sensation*, slapstick*, funnies*.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

comedy Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • manner: The personal and the political collide in this outrageous and fast paced comedy of manners by Sunday Times award winning playwright John Donnelly.

Converse of object

  • perform: Writing and performing stand-up comedy is life's blood for Russ.

Adjective modifier

  • romantic: He most recently was seen opposite Ashley Judd in the romantic comedy " Someone Like You.

Modifies a noun

  • sketch: Not many people will risk their lives for a comedy sketch.

Noun used with modifier

  • slapstick: It was just like an old-fashioned slapstick comedy where people threw cakes at each other.
comedy usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

comedy quotes

Happy is the country which has no history, and happier still is that musical comedyabout which one can find nothing to say.

-Agate,James

Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est. Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over. SeeAugustus 42:48.

-Behn, Aphra ne¤  e  Amis

Tragedy is if I cut my finger.Comedy is if I walk into an open sewer and die.

-Brooks, Mel pseudonym of  Melvin Kaminsky

comedy quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"comedy." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/comedy>

APA Style

comedy. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/comedy

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