comedy

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: com=e=dy

CIDE DICTIONARY

comedy, n. [F. comédie, L. comoedia, fr. Gr. ; a jovial festivity with music and dancing, a festal procession, an ode sung at this procession (perh. akin to village, E. home) + to sing; for comedy was originally of a lyric character. See Home, and Ode.].

 A dramatic composition, or representation of a bright and amusing character, based upon the foibles of individuals, the manners of society, or the ludicrous events or accidents of life; a play in which mirth predominates and the termination of the plot is happy; -- opposed to tragedy.  [1913 Webster]
"With all the vivacity of comedy."  [1913 Webster]
"Are come to play a pleasant comedy."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

comedy, n. (pl. -ies)
1 a a play, film, etc., of an amusing or satirical character, usu. with a happy ending. b the dramatic genre consisting of works of this kind (she excels in comedy) (cf. TRAGEDY).
2 an amusing or farcical incident or series of incidents in everyday life.
3 humour, esp. in a work of art etc.

Idiom

comedy of manners see MANNER.

Derivative

comedic adj.

Etymology

ME f. OF comedie f. L comoedia f. Gk komoidia f. komoidos comic poet f. komos revel

THESAURUS

comedy

Atticism, Thalia, agile wit, arlequinade, black comedy, black humor, bladder, broad comedy, burlesque, burletta, camp, cap and bells, caricature, comedie bouffe, comedie larmoyante, comedie rosse, comedietta, comedy ballet, comedy of humors, comedy of ideas, comedy of intrigue, comedy of manners, comedy of situation, comedy relief, comic muse, comic opera, comic relief, comicality, comicalness, coxcomb, dark comedy, domestic comedy, drollery, drollness, dry wit, esprit, exode, farce, farce comedy, funniness, genteel comedy, harlequinade, high camp, humor, humorousness, irony, lampoon, light comedy, low camp, low comedy, mime, motley, musical, musical comedy, nimble wit, opera buffa, parody, pleasantry, pretty wit, quick wit, raw comedy, ready wit, realistic comedy, romantic comedy, salt, sarcasm, satire, satyr play, savor of wit, sentimental comedy, situation comedy, slapstick, slapstick comedy, slapstick humor, sock, squib, subtle wit, tragicomedy, travesty, visual humor, wit, wittiness

ROGET THESAURUS

comedy

The Drama

N the drama, the stage, the theater, the play, film the film, movies, motion pictures, cinema, cinematography, theatricals, dramaturgy, histrionic art, buskin, sock, cothurnus, Melpomene and Thalia, Thespis, play, drama, stage play, piece, five-act play, tragedy, comedy, opera, vaudeville, comedietta, lever de rideau, interlude, afterpiece, exode, farce, divertissement, extravaganza, burletta, harlequinade, pantomime, burlesque, opera bouffe, ballet, spectacle, masque, drame comedie drame, melodrama, melodrame, comidie larmoyante, sensation drama, tragicomedy, farcical-comedy, monodrame monologue, duologue trilogy, charade, proverbs, mystery, miracle play, musical, musical comedy, western, horse opera, flick, spy film, love story, adventure film, documentary, nature film, pornographic film, smoker, skin flick, X-rated film, act, scene, tableau, induction, introduction, prologue, epilogue, libretto, performance, representation, mise en scene, stagery, jeu de theatre, acting, gesture, impersonation, stage business, gag, buffoonery, light comedy, genteel comedy, low comedy, theater, playhouse, opera house, house, music hall, amphitheater, circus, hippodrome, theater in the round, puppet show, fantoccini, marionettes, Punch and Judy, auditory, auditorium, front of the house, stalls, boxes, pit, gallery, parquet, greenroom, coulisses, flat, drop, drop scene, wing, screen, side scene, transformation scene, curtain, act drop, proscenium, stage, scene, scenery, the boards, trap, mezzanine floor, flies, floats, footlights, offstage, orchestra, theatrical costume, theatrical properties, movie studio, back lot, on location, part, role, character, dramatis personae, repertoire, actor, thespian, player, method actor, stage player, strolling player, stager, performer, mime, mimer, artists, comedian, tragedian, tragedienne, Roscius, star, movie star, star of stage and screen, superstar, idol, sex symbol, supporting actor, supporting cast, ham, hamfatter, masker, pantomimist, clown harlequin, buffo, buffoon, farceur, grimacer, pantaloon, columbine, punchinello, pulcinello, pulcinella, extra, bit- player, walk-on role, cameo appearance, mute, figurante, general utility, super, supernumerary, company, first tragedian, prima donna, protagonist, jeune premier, debutant, debutante, light comedian, genteel comedian, low comedian, walking gentleman, amoroso, heavy father, ingenue, jeune veuve, mummer, guiser, guisard, gysart, masque, mountebank, Jack Pudding, tumbler, posture master, acrobat, contortionist, ballet dancer, ballet girl, chorus singer, coryphee danseuse, property man, costumier, machinist, prompter, call boy, manager, director, stage manager, acting manager, producer, entrepreneur, impresario, backer, investor, angel, dramatic author, dramatic writer, play writer, playwright, dramatist, mimographer, dramatic, theatric, theatrical, scenic, histrionic, comic, tragic, buskined, farcical, tragicomic, melodramatic, operatic, stagy, on the stage, on the boards, on film, before the floats, before an audience, behind the scenes, fere totus mundus exercet histrionem, suit the action to the word, the word to the action, the play's the thing, to wake the soul by tender strokes of art.

Ridiculousness

N ridiculousness, comicality, oddity, extravagance, drollery, farce, comedy, burlesque, buffoonery, frippery, doggerel verses, absurdity, bombast, anticlimax, bathos, eccentricity, monstrosity, laughingstock, ridiculous, ludicrous, comical, droll, funny, laughable, pour rire, grotesque, farcical, odd, whimsical, whimsical as a dancing bear, fanciful, fantastic, queer, rum, quizzical, quaint, bizarre, screaming, eccentric, strange, outlandish, out of the way, baroque, weird, awkward, extravagant, outre, monstrous, preposterous, bombastic, inflated, stilted, burlesque, mock heroic, drollish, seriocomic, tragicomic, gimcrack, contemptible, doggerel, ironical, risible, risum teneatis amici, rideret Heraclitus, du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas.