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Definition of sight gag
: a comic bit or episode whose effect is produced by pantomime or camera shot rather than by words
Examples of sight gag in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web At one point, a brief but delectable sight gag has the street urchins deadpanning through a window, wearing sunglasses, while Seymour sings about a solar eclipse.
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Celia Wren, Washington Post, "Despite exotic botany, Constellation’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ is an old chestnut," 24 Oct. 2019 The station becomes a success, with all sorts of hilarious sight gags and wacky humor.
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Houston Chronicle, "Outside the Megaplex: Here are the Houston arthouse movies showing July 26- Aug. 1," 25 July 2019 The format lends itself to sight gags and silliness.
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Yoko Kubota, WSJ, "TikTok’s Videos Are Goofy. Its Strategy to Dominate Social Media Is Serious.," 29 June 2019 This is a movie that can be read on many different levels, from a simple family comedy to an action movie imbued with philosophy to a genuine war of political principles that manages to pack in some great sight gags.
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Allegra Frank, Vox, "All 21 Pixar movies, definitively ranked," 27 June 2019 Why are warm moments upended by sight gags involving props being thrown and caught across the stage?
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Christopher Arnott, courant.com, "Review: ’Mamma Mia’ a crowded, loud party at CT Rep," 10 June 2019 All featured live music, snide political humor, satirical slide shows, at times crude sight gags and, most important of all, performers who would do anything for a laugh.
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Donna Freedman, Anchorage Daily News, "Farewell to the 'Follies’: Mr. Whitekeys says his shows are ending — for good, this time," 12 June 2019 The sight gag was excellent, but Chandler cracking wise from inside the box brought the episode to a timeless level of funny.
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Lisa Respers France, CNN, "Jennifer Aniston now says she's up for a 'Friends' reunion," 5 June 2019 Unfortunately, this sight gag appears to be a bit of television magic.
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Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, "Was There Really a Member of the Romanov Family That Looked Exactly Like Corey Stoll?," 13 Oct. 2018
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sight gag.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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The first known use of sight gag was in 1949
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