comedy

com·e·dy

noun \ˈkä-mə-dē\

plural com·e·dies

Definition of COMEDY

1

a : a medieval narrative that ends happily <Dante's Divine Comedy>

b : a literary work written in a comic style or treating a comic theme

2

a : a drama of light and amusing character and typically with a happy ending

b : the genre of dramatic literature dealing with the comic or with the serious in a light or satirical manner — compare tragedy

3

: a ludicrous or farcical event or series of events <a comedy of errors>

4

a : the comic element <the comedy of many life situations>

b : humorous entertainment <nightclub comedy>

Examples of COMEDY

1. The new comedy is the network's most popular television show.
2. The movie includes a lot of physical comedy.
3. We couldn't help laughing out loud at the comedy of the situation.

Origin of COMEDY

Middle English, from Medieval Latin comoedia, from Latin, drama with a happy ending, from Greek kōmōidia, from kōmos revel + aeidein to sing — more at ode

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to COMEDY

Synonyms

farce, humor, slapstick

Antonyms

pathos

Related Words

high comedy, low comedy; burlesque, parody, satire; improv, stand-up; banter, drollery, persiflage, wit; foolery, fun, horseplay, knockabout, monkeyshine(s), shenanigan(s)

Near Antonyms

agony, anguish, dolor, grief, heartache, heartbreak, misery, sorrow, torment, torture, tribulation, woe; gravity, seriousness, soberness, solemnity, solemnness, somberness

Other Performing Arts Terms

diva, dramaturgy, loge, prestidigitation, proscenium, supernumerary, zany

Rhymes with COMEDY

psalmody

comedy

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Genre of dramatic literature that deals with the light and amusing or with the serious and profound in a light, familiar, or satirical manner. Comedy can be traced to revels associated with worship in Greece in the 5th century BC. Aristophanes, Menander, Terence, and Plautus produced comedies in classical literature. It reappeared in the late Middle Ages, when the term was used to mean simply a story with a happy ending (e.g., Dante's Divine Comedy), the same meaning it has in novels of the last three centuries (e.g., the fiction of Jane Austen). Compare tragedy.