Dictionary.com

comedy

[ kom-i-dee ]
/ ˈkɒm ɪ di /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR comedy ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural com·e·dies.

a play, movie, etc., of light and humorous character with a happy or cheerful ending; a dramatic work in which the central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance, resulting in a successful or happy conclusion.
that branch of the drama which concerns itself with this form of composition.
the comic element of drama, of literature generally, or of life.
any literary composition dealing with a theme suitable for comedy, or employing the methods of comedy.
any comic or humorous incident or series of incidents.

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Origin of comedy

1350–1400; Middle English comedye<Medieval Latin cōmēdia,Latin cōmoedia<Greek kōmōidía, equivalent to kōmōid(ós) comedian (kômo(s) merry-making + aoidós singer) + -ia-y3

OTHER WORDS FROM comedy

co·me·di·al [kuh-mee-dee-uhl], /kəˈmi di əl/, adjectivepro·com·e·dy, adjective

Words nearby comedy

comedown, come down on, come down the pike, come down to, come down with, comedy, comedy of errors, comedy of manners, come forward, come from, come from behind
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to comedy

fun, humor, satire, farce, sitcom, picnic, takeoff, funniness, drollery, interlude, hoopla, comicality, travesty, hilarity, ball, humorousness, burlesque, witticism, slapstick, vaudeville

Example sentences from the Web for comedy

British Dictionary definitions for comedy

comedy
/ (ˈkɒmɪdɪ) /

noun plural -dies

a dramatic or other work of light and amusing character
the genre of drama represented by works of this type
(in classical literature) a play in which the main characters and motive triumph over adversity
the humorous aspect of life or of events
an amusing event or sequence of events
humour or comic stylethe comedy of Chaplin

Word Origin for comedy

C14: from Old French comédie, from Latin cōmoedia, from Greek kōmōidia, from kōmos village festival + aeidein to sing
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for comedy

comedy

A work — play, story, novel, or film — that ends happily for the main character (or protagonist) and contains humor to some degree. A comedy may involve unhappy outcomes for some of the characters. Shylock, for example, in The Merchant of Venice, a comedy by William Shakespeare, is disgraced in the play. The ancient Greeks and Romans produced comedies, and great numbers have been written in modern times.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.