Jump To:

• comic opera
  comic opera

  noun

  a diverting opera with spoken dialogue and a happy ending.
• comic-opera
  comic-opera

  adjective

  comically vainglorious; having farcically self-important aspects.

comic opera

¹ American  

noun

1. a diverting opera with spoken dialogue and a happy ending.

2. the tradition or genre of such operas.

---

comic-opera ² American  

[kom-ik-op-er-uh, -op-ruh] / ˈkɒm ɪkˈɒp ər ə, -ˈɒp rə /

adjective

1. comically vainglorious; having farcically self-important aspects.

   a comic-opera army, proud in its ceremonial splendor but inept on the battlefield.

---

comic opera British  

noun

1. a play largely set to music, employing comic effects or situations See also opéra bouffe opera buffa

---

Etymology

Origin of comic opera

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Hemingway once wrote, “And Barcelona. You should see Barcelona. It is all still comic opera… Barcelona makes you laugh.”

From Salon • Dec. 6, 2025

In "La Fille du Regiment," Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera, the Canadian-American actress plays the Duchess of Krakenthorp, who reluctantly marries off her son.

From Barron's • Oct. 16, 2025

He has many more wild dreams — to write a comic opera, to make a French record, possibly to score a film.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 29, 2024

The answer is simple: It’s time for this country to create a comic opera company of its own.

From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2022

Like Schubert, they appealed to their audience not through comic opera, Rossini-style, but by providing bitter-sweet, mostly tender reflections on love, art and life that were instandy enjoyable.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall