1
as in humorous
causing or intended to cause laughter
the farcical behavior of the troupe of circus clowns
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ridiculous
so foolish or pointless as to be worthy of scornful laughter
the farcical routine that a person has to go through to get a refund from that company
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of farcical
The Drummerpocalypse just keeps hitting new levels, reaching a farcical peak last week when the Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails traded drummers.
—
Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2025
The farcical character is a parody of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, and has been portrayed in various sequels by Alan Arkin, Roger Moore and, most recently, Steve Martin in the 2006 reboot and subsequent 2009 sequel.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 28 July 2025
The Euro 2025 quarter-finals had late drama, with Italy squeezing past Norway, a comeback out of nowhere from England, and a farcical penalty shootout win over Sweden.
—Michael Cox, New York Times, 20 July 2025
At the heart of her tale lies an early-twentieth-century initiative that was undertaken with absolute earnestness at the time but seems almost farcical today: a multicountry effort to redirect America’s enormous influx of Jewish immigrants from Ellis Island to Galveston, Texas.
—Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for farcical
Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2025
The farcical character is a parody of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, and has been portrayed in various sequels by Alan Arkin, Roger Moore and, most recently, Steve Martin in the 2006 reboot and subsequent 2009 sequel.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 28 July 2025
The Euro 2025 quarter-finals had late drama, with Italy squeezing past Norway, a comeback out of nowhere from England, and a farcical penalty shootout win over Sweden.
—Michael Cox, New York Times, 20 July 2025
At the heart of her tale lies an early-twentieth-century initiative that was undertaken with absolute earnestness at the time but seems almost farcical today: a multicountry effort to redirect America’s enormous influx of Jewish immigrants from Ellis Island to Galveston, Texas.
—Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for farcical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for farcical
Adjective
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There are a lot of different kinds of reminiscing on here, humorous and serious.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
12 Sep. 2025
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On stage, DeMarco projected a charismatic, likable and humorous persona that went beyond his simple attire of a baseball cap and a T-shirt.—
David Chiu,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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But now, Netflix has deemed that almost any mildly or very successful show like Wednesday must now air its episodes in a 2+ month split, broken in half, or in some ridiculous instances, broken into thirds (see the November 26, December 25, December 31 split for Stranger Things season 5).—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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And on Sunday, the feat got even more ridiculous, as Chapman struck out four batters in an inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks, thanks to a wild pitch catcher Carlos Narváez couldn't corral.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Since 2022, Wysocki has established himself as social media’s favorite cast member on Make Some Noise, Dropout’s game show in which contestants are rewarded points for improvising scenes based on comedic prompts.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
15 Sep. 2025
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But only the older duo of the comedic TV trio made it to the Disney post-Emmys party at Los Angeles' Vibina restaurant.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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There’s no denying that catfish noodling is an absurd sport.—
Natalie Krebs,
Outdoor Life,
11 Sep. 2025
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Barely any other media in recent times has given me an instant shock of glee or revulsion like this absurd anarcho-cartoon being stretched and squeezed to its most grotesque and wholesome clickbait limits.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Zambians are warm, funny, proud.—
Daniel Scheffler,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
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Darkly funny and deeply melancholic, the film turns the family estate into a pressure cooker of grief, grudges and reluctant affection.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Mea Culpa is Perry at his most knowingly silly, and a throwback to erotic thrillers of decades past.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
14 Sep. 2025
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For every community of mass-shooter fandoms, there is another that is silly, joyous, productive, or totally harmless.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In some comical cases, the ads were served by Google’s ad server to Google’s own bots.—
Nikita Ostrovsky,
Time,
10 Sep. 2025
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Some speeches were heartfelt, comical and even self-deprecating at times, while others addressed social and political issues.—
Hikmat Mohammed,
Footwear News,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The end of that era came slowly, through the pathetic collapse of Syria and Lebanon as functioning states, and then quickly, when Israel began touching Hezbollah in unexpected places.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
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Want the poop on this pathetic history?—
Brian Domitrovic,
Forbes.com,
30 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Farcical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/farcical. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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