Definition of 'comedy'
Word forms: plural comedies
1. uncountable noun
Comedy consists of types of entertainment, such as plays and movies, or particular scenes in them, that are intended to make people laugh.
2. countable noun
A comedy is a play, movie, or television program that is intended to make people laugh.
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
comedy in American English
nounWord forms: plural ˈcomedies
2.
a.
any of various types of play or film with a more or less humorous treatment of characters
and situation and a happy ending
see also comedy of manners, farce, high comedy, low comedyb.
such plays collectively
c.
the branch of drama having to do with such plays
d.
the writing, acting, or theoretical principles of this kind of drama
3.
a novel or any narrative having a comic theme, tone, etc.
4.
the comic element in a literary work, or in life
5.
an amusing or comic event or sequence of events
Idioms:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME & OFr comedie < L comoedia < Gr kōmōidia < kōmos, revel, carousal + aeidein, to sing: see odeWord Frequency
comedy in American English
(ˈkɑmɪdi)
nounWord forms: plural -dies
SYNONYMS 5. jesting, humor, pleasantry, banter.1.
a play, movie, etc., of light and humorous character with a happy or cheerful ending; a dramatic work in which the central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance, resulting in a successful or happy conclusion
2.
that branch of the drama which concerns itself with this form of composition
3.
the comic element of drama, of literature generally, or of life
4.
any literary composition dealing with a theme suitable for comedy, or employing the methods of comedy
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
comedial (kəˈmidiəl) adjective
Word origin
[1350–1400; ME comedye ‹ ML cōmēdia, L cōmoedia ‹ Gk kōmōidía, equiv. to kōmōid(ós) comedian (kômo(s) merry-making + aoidós singer) + -ia -y3]Word Frequency
comedy in British English
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C14: from Old French comédie, from Latin cōmoedia, from Greek kōmōidia, from kōmos village festival + aeidein to sing
Examples of 'comedy' in a sentence
comedy
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Quotations
Comedy is an imitation of the common errors of our lifeThe Defence of Poetry
All tragedies are finish'd by a death,
All comedies are ended by a marriageDon Juan
All comedies are ended by a marriageDon Juan
Word lists with
comedy
Types of drama Types of entertainmentQuick word challenge
Quiz Review
Question: 1
-
Score: 0 / 5
Which type of drama am I?
a serialized drama, usually dealing with domestic themes and characterized by sentimentality, broadcast on radio or television
Which type of drama am I?
(on television or radio) a comedy series involving the same characters in various day-to-day situations which are developed as separate stories for each episode
Which type of drama am I?
(formerly) a romantic drama characterized by sensational incident, music, and song
Which type of drama am I?
a play depicting the Passion of Christ
Which type of drama am I?
a genre of drama in which actors wear period costumes
Your score:
Trends of
comedy
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In other languages
comedy
British English: comedy
/ˈkɒmɪdɪ/ NOUN
Comedy consists of types of entertainment that are intended to make people laugh.
His career was in comedy.
- American English: comedy /ˈkɒmədi/
- Arabic: كوميديا
- Brazilian Portuguese: comédia
- Chinese: 喜剧
- Croatian: komedija
- Czech: komedie
- Danish: komedie
- Dutch: komedie
- European Spanish: humorismo
- Finnish: komedia
- French: comédie drôle
- German: Komödie
- Greek: κωμωδία
- Italian: commedia
- Japanese: コメディー
- Korean: 코미디
- Norwegian: komedie
- Polish: komedia
- European Portuguese: comédia
- Romanian: comedie
- Russian: комедия
- Spanish: comedia
- Swedish: komedi
- Thai: ละครตลก, การแสดงตลก
- Turkish: komedi
- Ukrainian: комедія
- Vietnamese: hài kịch
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comedy
Related terms of
comedy
Source
Definition of comedy from the Collins English Dictionary
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