com·e·dy

(kŏm′ĭ-dē)

n. pl. com·e·dies

a. A dramatic work that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone and that usually contains a happy resolution of the thematic conflict.

b. The genre made up of such works.

2. A literary or cinematic work of a comic nature or that uses the themes or methods of comedy.

3. Popular entertainment composed of jokes, satire, or humorous performance.

4. The art of composing or performing comedy.

5. A humorous element of life or literature: the human comedy of political campaigns.

6. A humorous occurrence.

Idiom:

comedy of errors

A ludicrous event or sequence of events: The candidate's campaign turned out to be a political comedy of errors.

[Middle English comedie, from Medieval Latin cōmēdia, from Latin cōmoedia, from Greek kōmōidia, from kōmōidos, comic actor : kōmos, revel + aoidos, singer (from aeidein, to sing; see wed- in Indo-European roots).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

comedy

(ˈkɒmɪdɪ)

n, pl -dies

1. (Theatre) a dramatic or other work of light and amusing character

2. (Theatre) the genre of drama represented by works of this type

3. (Theatre) (in classical literature) a play in which the main characters and motive triumph over adversity

4. the humorous aspect of life or of events

5. an amusing event or sequence of events

6. humour or comic style: the comedy of Chaplin.

[C14: from Old French comédie, from Latin cōmoedia, from Greek kōmōidia, from kōmos village festival + aeidein to sing]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

com•e•dy

(ˈkɒm ɪ di)

n., pl. -dies.

1. a play, movie, etc., of light and humorous character with a cheerful ending.

2. the branch of drama concerned with this form of composition.

3. the comic element of drama, of literature generally, or of life.

4. any comic or humorous incident or series of incidents.

[1350–1400; Middle English comedye < Medieval Latin cōmēdia, Latin cōmoedia < Greek kōmōidía <kōmōid(ós) comedian (kômo(s) merrymaking + aoidós singer)]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	comedy - light and humorous drama with a happy ending drama - the literary genre of works intended for the theater black comedy - comedy that uses black humor commedia dell'arte - Italian comedy of the 16th to 18th centuries improvised from standardized situations and stock characters dark comedy - a comedy characterized by grim or satiric humor; a comedy having gloomy or disturbing elements farce, farce comedy, travesty - a comedy characterized by broad satire and improbable situations high comedy - a sophisticated comedy; often satirizing genteel society low comedy - a comedy characterized by slapstick and burlesque melodrama - an extravagant comedy in which action is more salient than characterization seriocomedy, tragicomedy - a comedy with serious elements or overtones sitcom, situation comedy - a humorous drama based on situations that might arise in day-to-day life slapstick - a boisterous comedy with chases and collisions and practical jokes tragedy - drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity
	2.	comedy - a comic incident or series of incidents drollery, funniness, clowning fun, sport, play - verbal wit or mockery (often at another's expense but not to be taken seriously); "he became a figure of fun"; "he said it in sport"

comedy

noun

1. light entertainment, sitcom (informal) Channel Four's comedy, 'Father Ted'
light entertainment opera, tragedy, soap opera, melodrama, high drama, serious play

2. humour, fun, joking, farce, jesting, slapstick, wisecracking, hilarity, witticisms, facetiousness, chaffing He and I provided the comedy with songs and monologues.
humour sadness, seriousness, melancholy, solemnity

Quotations
"Comedy is an imitation of the common errors of our life" [Sir Philip Sidney The Defence of Poetry]
"The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel" [Horace Walpole Letters]
"All tragedies are finish'd by a death,"
"All comedies are ended by a marriage" [Lord Byron Don Juan]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

comedy

noun

The quality of being laughable or comical:

comicality, comicalness, drollery, drollness, farcicality, funniness, humor, humorousness, jocoseness, jocosity, jocularity, ludicrousness, ridiculousness, wit, wittiness, zaniness.

Translations

كوميدياكوميديا، مَلْهاهمَرَح، فُكاهَه

komediekomičnost

komediekomik

Komödie Boulevardstück Komik

κωμωδία

comedia humorismo

komedia

comédie comique

komedija

vígjáték

gamanleikurgamansemi, skoplegt atvik

commedia commèdia comico

コメディー

코미디

komedijakomikaskomiškumas

komēdijakomisms

komedie

komedie komikk lystspill humor

komedia

comédia

комедия комедийный

komédia

komedija

komedi

ละครตลก

komedikomiklik

hài kịch

喜剧幽默

comedy

[ˈkɒmɪdɪ]

A. N (gen) → comedia f; (= humour of situation) → comicidad f
comedy of manners → comedia f de costumbres

B. CPD comedy show N (TV) → programa m de humor

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

comedy

[ˈkɒmədi]

(= type of entertainment) → comédie f

(= play, film) → comédie f

modif [drama, series, romance, western] → comiquecomedy club n club où des comiques se produisentcomedy show n → comédie f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

comedy

(Theat) → Komödie f, → Lustspiel nt; comedy programme → Unterhaltungsprogramm nt; comedy writer → Lustspielautor(in) m(f) → or (classical) → -dichter(in) m(f); “Comedy of Errors” → „Komödie der Irrungen“; the entire deal was just a comedy of errors (fig) → bei dem Geschäft ging aber auch alles daneben; low comedy → Klamauk m; high comedy → echte or gekonnte Komödie; to act in comedy → Komödiendarsteller(in) m(f) → sein

(fig) → Komödie f, → Theater nt (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

comedy

[ˈkɒmɪdɪ] n (gen) → commedia brillante; (humour) → lato comico

comedy

(ˈkomədi) – plural ˈcomedies – noun

1. a play of a pleasant or amusing kind. We went to see a comedy last night.

2. humour. They all saw the comedy of the situation.

comedian (kəˈmiːdiən) – feminine comedienne (kəmiːdiˈen, (American) kəˈmi:diən) – noun

a performer who tells jokes or acts in comedies.

comedy

→ كوميديا komedie komedie Komödie κωμωδία comedia, humorismo komedia comédie komedija commedia コメディー 코미디 komedie komedie komedia comédia комедия komedi ละครตลก komedi hài kịch 喜剧

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

I cannot fix the time or place when my friend and I began to read him, but it was in the fine print of that unhallowed edition of ours, and presently we had great lengths of him by heart, out of "Hamlet," out of "The Tempest," out of "Macbeth," out of "Richard III.," out of "Midsummer-Night's Dream," out of the "Comedy of Errors," out of "Julius Caesar," out of "Measure for Measure," out of "Romeo and Juliet," out of "Two Gentlemen of Verona."

View in context

So, from first to last, the story of the telephone in Great Britain has been a "comedy of errors." There are now, in the two islands, not six hundred thousand telephones in use.

View in context

For although a person changes gradually, and presents similar appearances on two nearly contemporaneous occasions, it is not these similarities that constitute the person, as appears from the "Comedy of Errors" for example.

View in context

Staging the Gaze also offers a series of methodologically agile close readings of A Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night.

Staging the Gaze: Postmodernism, Psychoanalysis and Shakespearean Comedy

Oddsocks will be performing A Comedy of Errors at Fillongley Lodge, Warwick Castle and Mary Arden's House.

Stage Whispers

ONE of the great names from the golden age of hurdlers, Lanzarote's finest hour came when he dethroned Comedy Of Errors to land the 1974 Champion Hurdle by three lengths in the hands of Richard Pitman, in the process winning his tenth consecutive race.

So who was the horse behind the race name?

We hear she flew back to Los Angeles in disgust after plans to meet a fan at her home turned into a comedy of errors.

3am: Cher hell in hotels

Instead of this government play-acting at governing it should get its act together once and for all as its Midsummer Night's Dream has surely become a Comedy of Errors for a lot of folk.

Letter: Your Say - No excuse for NHS waste

The match generally was a comedy of errors - the first half typified by City's first goal which was gifted to them by a rebound on the edge of the Reading area.

Football: THE FANZINE'S VIEW

Gerwyn Coles, 25, from Rhondda, south Wales, set out on a midnight raid which turned into a comedy of errors.

Burglar in a tight spot

MIKE BARKER'S social comedy of errors updates Oscar Wilde's classic Lady Windermere's Fan from stuffy Victorian London to the glamorous, sun-kissed Amalfi coast during the 30s.

DVD Review

lLast year's Champion Hurdle winner Comedy Of Errors (Fred Rimell) will be ridden by John Burke at Fontwell next week, as Ken White is on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.

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