adjective
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ludicrous; absurd
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of or relating to farce
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of farcical
Explanation
Something that's farcical is ridiculously funny — absurd, even. When you stumbled onstage, tripping over your costume and pulling down the backdrop, you brought a farcical element to the serious play. If it resembles a farce — a silly comedy that pokes fun at something — you can describe it as farcical, which is pronounced "FAR-cih-kul." Farcical comes from the Latin farcire, "to stuff," which influenced the French farce, a "comic interlude in a mystery play." It's thought that farce came to have this meaning because it was "stuffed" in between acts.
Vocabulary lists containing farcical
100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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"Common Sense," Vocabulary from the pamphlet
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Just Mercy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Farcical havoc ensues when Jean-Michel requests Georges and Albin play it straight when his future in-laws pay a visit.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 19, 2024
Farcical, hapless and concerning: three words to describe an absolute horror show from Manchester United, who on this evidence would struggle to give a parks team a contest.
From The Guardian • Oct. 4, 2020
Farcical scenes as del Potro hits a big serve and stops playing as Nadal whistles it back past his lugs.
From The Guardian • Sep. 7, 2018
Farcical, tongue-in-cheek and often just plain silly, “The Gentleman” pays homage to late Victorian melodrama and in its tone aspires to a P.G.
From Washington Post • Aug. 24, 2016
Would not the term "burlesque" be a better term than "Farcical Romance?"
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 104, April 29, 1893 by Burnand, F. C. (Francis Cowley), Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
