comedy of manners

American  

noun

1. a comedy satirizing the manners and customs of a social class, especially one dealing with the amorous intrigues of fashionable society.

---

comedy of manners British  

noun

1. a comedy dealing with the way of life and foibles of a social group

2. the genre represented by works of this type

---

Etymology

Origin of comedy of manners

First recorded in 1815–25

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

comedy of manners

Morris fancies Bridget’s struggle to adapt as the franchise’s latest play on its classic comedy of manners.

From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2025

The central deviation is that this “Speak No Evil,” with its more pronounced humor and catharsis, treats the other film’s scenario as a ghastly comedy of manners rather than as a brutalizing, unheroic descent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2024

"The comedy of manners plays with the mores of civilization; it can lose its charm when civilisation succumbs to barbarity. In life, as in comedy, timing is essential."

From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2024

Bays, the co-creator of “How I Met Your Mother,” delivers a whip-smart comedy of manners for the era of buzzing gadgets.

From Washington Post ● May 31, 2022

The chat rooms made her blog feel inconsequential, a comedy of manners, a mild satire about a world that was anything but mild.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---