comic relief
noun
: a relief from the emotional tension especially of a drama that is provided by the interposition of a comic episode or element
Examples of comic relief in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The role turns on a dime between larger-than-life villain to kindly father figure, from smooth-talking charmer to impotent comic relief, and Slater tears into each facet of the character with bloodthirsty relish.
—
Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Apr. 2024
Italia is an odd duck, both the story’s voice of conscience and a source of comic relief, a figure of fun and possibility.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024
That striving for grace extends beyond the film’s leading man, too, and can be found in even the smallest comic relief characters and especially in Condon’s big bad.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 28 Mar. 2024
With too many characters involved, the story flattens most of them into archetypes: Jack is the comic relief.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2024
With a steep $1.4 million budget (roughly $25 million today), Cimarron has not aged well, at least in terms of its manifest-destiny politics, casual theft of Native American land and Black servant characters played for comic relief.
—Chris Nashawaty, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb. 2024
In the meeting where the producers told the cast, Ms. Hall couldn’t resist a little comic relief.
—Kim Severson, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2024
The comic relief took a million pounds off my back.
—Melinda Newman, Billboard, 8 Mar. 2024
Javier Bardem as Stilgar wins big in the comic relief department.
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Apr. 2024
Italia is an odd duck, both the story’s voice of conscience and a source of comic relief, a figure of fun and possibility.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024
That striving for grace extends beyond the film’s leading man, too, and can be found in even the smallest comic relief characters and especially in Condon’s big bad.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 28 Mar. 2024
With too many characters involved, the story flattens most of them into archetypes: Jack is the comic relief.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2024
With a steep $1.4 million budget (roughly $25 million today), Cimarron has not aged well, at least in terms of its manifest-destiny politics, casual theft of Native American land and Black servant characters played for comic relief.
—Chris Nashawaty, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb. 2024
In the meeting where the producers told the cast, Ms. Hall couldn’t resist a little comic relief.
—Kim Severson, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2024
The comic relief took a million pounds off my back.
—Melinda Newman, Billboard, 8 Mar. 2024
Javier Bardem as Stilgar wins big in the comic relief department.
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'comic relief.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Comic relief.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comic%20relief. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
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