farces

noun

plural of farce
1
as in parodies
a poor, insincere, or insulting imitation of something the recall of a duly elected official for a frivolous reason is not democracy in action but a farce

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in comedies
humorous entertainment the rubber-faced, loose-jointed comedian is a master of knockabout farce

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of farces With sparse amounts of slapstick, this staging isn’t the most physical of farces, though Lutz and Enriquez in particular strike some laugh-out-loud poses. — Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026 Two suburban groups, Plano’s Rover Dramawerks and MainStage Irving-Las Colinas, are opening the new year with farces by prolific British playwrights that are marked by mistaken identity and other comic twists. — Manuel Mendoza, Dallas Morning News, 8 Jan. 2026 His air of louche mischief attended his farces about Dada and James Joyce and moral determinism, his cleverness worn as lightly as a scarf. — Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2025 His movies — farces, fables, experiments — reside in surreal worlds of their own. — Jake Coyle, Boston Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for farces
  1. parodies
  2. comedies
  3. jokes
  4. humors
  5. caricatures
Noun
  • The five stars teased the project with parodies of their characters in a promo video.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The name of the collection parodies the seriousness of the museum, even as the collection itself is the kind of thing that has traditionally gotten scant attention within actual institutions.
    — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of parodies
Noun
  • Morales pointed to Spanish and French comedies that once drew 100,000 admissions but now struggle to reach 10,000.
    — Emiliano de Pablos, Variety, 2 Nov. 2026
  • In addition to his work in theater, Harnick has written for television comedies, including The Drew Carey Show.
    — Giovana Gelhoren, InStyle, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of comedies
Noun
  • Hang on through an opening salvo of political jokes that elapsed time and Tuesday’s election results have rendered stale (Rudy Giuliani, anybody?
    — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Ruiz Caldera wanted Romero in the lead, although the comedian worried that viewers would expect jokes from a screenplay containing almost none.
    — Emiliano de Pablos, Variety, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of jokes
Noun
  • All that guessing will create herding and noise trading as the crowd chases the crowd like a dog chases its tail, in a futile attempt to get ahead of the next unpredictable change in what humors the Big Player.
    — Steve H. Hanke, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2026
  • European colonists commonly believed that the balance of humors – yellow and black biles, blood and phlegm – circulating through one’s body was important for health.
    — Katherine Ott, The Conversation, 2 July 2026
Definition of humors
Noun
  • As is the case with most election cycles, the claims and counterclaims about the ballot measures being voted on in California this time around are largely based on caricatures of the measures themselves.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • But Iñárritu’s caricatures become people in a way Kubrick’s don’t; as the bewildered President, for example, John Goodman is simultaneously grounded and theatrical in his presentation, recalling his best work with the Coen brothers.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of caricatures

Browse Nearby Words

farce
farces
farceur
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Farces.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/farces. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of wabi-sabi

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All