Did you know?
You've probably already spotted the "farce" in farceur. But although farceur can now refer to someone who performs or composes farce, it began life as a word for someone who is simply known for cracking jokes. Appropriately, farceur derives via Modern French from the Middle French farcer, meaning "to joke." If you think of farce as a composition of ridiculous humor with a "stuffed" or contrived plot, then it should not surprise you that farce originally meant "forcemeat"—seasoned meat used for a stuffing—and that both farce and farceur can be ultimately traced back to the Latin verb farcire, meaning "to stuff."
Synonyms
Examples of farceur in a Sentence
Armond White, National Review, 23 July 2021
On the other hand, farceurs and satirists have always focused on power — without regard to deserving — and thus these genres have always functioned as safety valves and indicators of a free society.
—Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 19 June 2019
Both stars are enthusiastic farceurs, which almost but not quite gets you past the essential stupidity/criminality of the setup.
—Ty Burr, BostonGlobe.com, 3 May 2018
Vulgar, old-fashioned, and paralytically funny, performed by a big cast of expert farceurs.
—Philly.com, 17 Sep. 2017
The work has been seen before (the cast was different but the reviews were mixed), and its author reportedly is revising extensively for Broadway with the help of his highly experienced farceur-director, Jerry Zaks.
—Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 7 Sep. 2017
Big, vulgar, a little old-fashioned, and paralytically funny, with expert farceurs galore.
—Philly.com, 22 Oct. 2017
Reviewing an early Georges Feydeau comedy, a droll critic predicted that this master farceur would go mad and end his days in an asylum.
—Mike Fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1 July 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'farceur.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
French, from Middle French, from farcer to joke, from Old French, from farce
1781, in the meaning defined at sense 1
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Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
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Cite this Entry
“Farceur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/farceur. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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