Definitions for comedy
ˈkɒm ɪ dicom·e·dy

Princeton's WordNet(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. comedynoun

   light and humorous drama with a happy ending

2. drollery, clowning, comedy, funninessnoun

   a comic incident or series of incidents

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. comedynoun

   archaic Greece. a choric song of celebration or revel

2. comedynoun

   ancient Greece. a light, amusing play with a happy ending

3. comedynoun

   medieval Europe. a narrative poem with an agreeable ending (e.g., The Divine Comedy)

4. comedynoun

   A dramatic work that is light and humorous or satirical in tone

5. comedynoun

   The genre of such works

6. comedynoun

   entertainment composed of jokes, satire, or humorous performance

7. comedynoun

   the art of composing comedy

8. comedynoun

   a humorous event

9. Etymology: First attested in 1374. From comedie, from comoedia, from κωμῳδία, from κῶμος + either ᾠδή or ἀοιδός, both from ἀείδω.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. COMEDYnoun

   A dramatick representation of the lighter faults of mankind.

   Etymology: comedia, Lat.

   Your honour’s players
   Are come to play a pleasant comedy. William Shakespeare, Tam. of the Shrew.

   A long, exact, and serious comedy,
   In every scene some moral let it teach,
   And, if it can, at once both please and preach. Alexander Pope.

Wikipedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Comedy

   Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: In Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses which engender dramatic irony, which provokes laughter.Satire and political satire use comedy to portray people or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the object of their humor. Parody subverts popular genres and forms, critiquing those forms without necessarily condemning them. Other forms of comedy include screwball comedy, which derives its humor largely from bizarre, surprising (and improbable) situations or characters, and black comedy, which is characterized by a form of humor that includes darker aspects of human behavior or human nature. Similarly scatological humor, sexual humor, and race humor create comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comic ways, which can often be taken as offensive by the subjects of said joke. A comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society (usually upper-class society) and uses humor to parody or satirize the behavior and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a popular genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms and focuses on the foibles of those who are falling in love.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Comedynoun

   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

2. Etymology: [F. comdie, 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.]

Freebase(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Comedy

   Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. These films are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are generally light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences. The comedy genre often humorously exaggerates situations, ways of speaking, or the action and characters. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending. One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies. Comedy, unlike other film genres, puts much more focus on individual stars, with many former stand-up comic transitioning to the film industry due to their popularity. While many comic films are lighthearted stories with no intent other than to amuse, others contain political or social commentary. The comedy genre can be considered the oldest film genre. Comedy was ideal for the early silent films, as it was dependent on visual action and physical humour rather than sound. Slapstick, one of the earliest forms of comedy, poked fun at physical mishap, usually in practical jokes, accidents and water soakings.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Comedy

   kom′e-di, n. a dramatic piece of a pleasant or humorous character, originally accompanied with dancing and singing.—ns. Comē′dian, one who acts or writes comedies: an actor:—fem. Comédienne′; Comēdiet′ta, a short comic piece. [L.,—Gr. kōmōdia, kōmos, revel, ōdē, song.]

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. comedy

   A type of observing of human behavior or conversation that is simple it creates laughter, joy and fun around the world.

   Comedy is good fun and the meaning is for it to be a tool to generate laughter, fun and love around the world

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on December 27, 2019  

Matched Categories

1. • Drama

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'comedy' in Nouns Frequency: #2236

How to pronounce comedy?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say comedy in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of comedy in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of comedy in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of comedy in a Sentence

1. Chris Aronson:

   We were very opportunistic about this date, this seemed to be a good time to release an R-rated comedy.

2. Ilene Graff:

   Auditions? Jobs? Hustling? All take second position to the helpless human you brought into the world. And that overpowering love is like no other. 'Mr. Belvedere’ was a half-hour, 4-camera comedy performed before a live studio audience, which meant we worked reasonable hours.

3. Franco Bario:

   It's really unfair because anytime you look back at an old show, you can do that and you can sort of make fun of the things that didn't age well. But that felt like a comedy opportunity for me and sort of the reason to do it. i think what is great about the new show is it is its own show, so there weren't those sweaty moments of like,' How are we recreating the original' Saved by the Bell ?' Cause we weren't.

4. Jason Alexander:

   The actress (Heidi Swedberg) is this wonderful girl, and … I love her! i couldn’t figure out how to play off of her. Her instincts for doing a scene — where the comedy was — and mine were always misfiring.

5. Ralph Waldo Emerson:

   The essence of all jokes, of all comedy, seems to be an honest or well intended halfness; a non performance of that which is pretended to be performed, at the same time that one is giving loud pledges of performance. The balking of the intellect, is comedy and it announces itself in the pleasant spasms we call laughter.

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