Adjacent Words

Comedy definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COMEDY, n. A dramatic composition intended to represent human characters, which are to be imitated in language, dress and manner, by actors on a stage, for the amusement of spectators. The object of comedy is said to be to recommend virtue and make vice ridiculous; but the real effect is amusement.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: light and humorous drama with a happy ending [ant: tragedy]
2: a comic incident or series of incidents [syn: drollery, clowning, comedy, funniness]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -dies) Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin comoedia, from Latin, drama with a happy ending, from Greek k?m?idia, from k?mos revel + aeidein to sing — more at ode Date: 14th century 1. a. a medieval narrative that ends happily <Dante's Divine Comedy> b. a literary work written in a comic style or treating a comic theme 2. a. a drama of light and amusing character and typically with a happy ending b. the genre of dramatic literature dealing with the comic or with the serious in a light or satirical manner — compare tragedy 3. a ludicrous or farcical event or series of events <a comedy of errors> 4. a. the comic element <the comedy of many life situations> b. humorous entertainment <nightclub comedy>

Britannica Concise

Genre of dramatic literature that deals with the light and amusing, or with the serious and profound in a light, familiar, or satirical manner. Comedy can be traced to revels associated with worship in Greece in the 5th cent. BC. Aristophanes, Menander, Terence, and Plautus produced comedies in classical literature. It reappeared in the late Middle Ages, when the term was used to mean simply a story with a happy ending (e.g., Dante's Divine Comedy), the same meaning it has in novels of the last three centuries (e.g., the fiction of J. Austen). See also tragedy.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

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. Phrases and idioms: comedy of manners see MANNER. Derivatives: comedic adj. Etymology: ME f. OF comedie f. L comoedia f. Gk komoidia f. komoidos comic poet f. komos revel

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Drama Dra"ma (?; 277), n. [L. drama, Gr. ?, fr. ? to do, act; cf. Lith. daryti.] 1. A composition, in prose or poetry, accommodated to action, and intended to exhibit a picture of human life, or to depict a series of grave or humorous actions of more than ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by actors on the stage. A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon. --Milton. 2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and interest. ``The drama of war.'' --Thackeray. Westward the course of empire takes its way; The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is the last. --Berkeley. The drama and contrivances of God's providence. --Sharp. 3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or illustrating it; dramatic literature. Note: The principal species of the drama are tragedy and comedy; inferior species are tragi-comedy, melodrama, operas, burlettas, and farces. The romantic drama, the kind of drama whose aim is to present a tale or history in scenes, and whose plays (like those of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others) are stories told in dialogue by actors on the stage. --J. A. Symonds.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Comedy Com"e*dy, n.; pl. Comedies. [F. com['e]die, 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. With all the vivacity of comedy. --Macaulay. Are come to play a pleasant comedy. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(comedies) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Comedy consists of types of entertainment, such as plays and films, or particular scenes in them, that are intended to make people laugh. Actor Dom Deluise talks about his career in comedy. ...a TV comedy series. 2. A comedy is a play, film, or television programme that is intended to make people laugh. ? tragedy N-COUNT 3. The comedy of a situation involves those aspects of it that make you laugh. Jackie sees the comedy in her millionaire husband's thrifty habits. = humour 4. see also situation comedy

Moby Thesaurus

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