farce

[fahrs]

noun

1. a light, humorous play in which the plot depends upon a skillfully exploited situation rather than upon the development of character.

2. humor of the type displayed in such works.

3. foolish show; mockery; a ridiculous sham.

   Synonyms: travesty, burlesque

4. Cooking.,  forcemeat.

verb (used with object)

farced, farcing 

1. to season (a speech or composition), especially with witty material.

2. Obsolete.,  to stuff; cram.

farce

/ fɑːs /

noun

1. a broadly humorous play based on the exploitation of improbable situations

2. the genre of comedy represented by works of this kind

3. a ludicrous situation or action

4. Also: farcemeat. another name for forcemeat

verb

1. to enliven (a speech, etc) with jokes

2. to stuff (meat, fowl, etc) with forcemeat

Other Word Forms

• unfarced adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of farce¹

First recorded in 1300–50; (for the noun) Middle English fars “stuffing,” from Middle French farce, from Vulgar Latin farsa (unrecorded), noun use of feminine of Latin farsus, earlier fartus “stuffed,” past participle of farcīre “to stuff”; (for the verb) Middle English farsen, from Old French farcir, from Latin farcīre

Word History and Origins

Origin of farce¹

C14 (in the sense: stuffing): from Old French, from Latin farcīre to stuff, interpolate passages (in the mass, in religious plays, etc)

Example Sentences

The Highlands and Islands MSP, speaking during time set aside to agree the parliamentary business programme, described the summit as a "sham" and a "farce".

From BBC

And America’s largest institutions, from its sports leagues to its universities, play along with this farce in the name of national unity.

From Salon

No 10 doesn't imagine that the damage of the last fortnight of farce is limited to those who have departed government.

From BBC

But farce is a universal language, and the hilarity is not just translated but alchemized into something riotously contemporary.

From Los Angeles Times

“That Marx quote about how history repeats itself first as tragedy & then as farce is prescient as always,” wrote one commentator.

From Salon

Related Words

• absurdity 
• burlesque 
• caricature 
• comedy 
• joke 
• mockery 
• parody 
• sham 
• skit 
• slapstick 
• travesty