comedian
Americannoun
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a professional entertainer who amuses by relating anecdotes, acting out comical situations, engaging in humorous repartee, etc.
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an actor in comedy.
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a writer of comedy.
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any comical or amusing person.
noun
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an entertainer who specializes in jokes, comic skits, etc
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an actor in comedy
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an amusing or entertaining person: sometimes used ironically
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of comedian
Explanation
A comedian tells jokes for a living. If you have the ability to crack everyone up at the dinner table, your mom might say that you should be a comedian. Comedians perform in various ways: a stand-up comedian, for example, tells jokes on a stage at a comedy club. Other comedians might perform improvisational comedy routines in a group, or be featured in a funny movie. In the 16th century, a comedian was specifically a "comic poet," while later the words comedian and actor were briefly interchangeable. It comes from the Greek komoidia, "an amusing spectacle."
Vocabulary lists containing comedian
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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.
See Examples For:
Mendel called Mawhinney "charming, you've got a good look", but it was a no from the comedian, calling the performance "too slow".
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
The comedian stars in this comedically spotty 10-part series following a washed-up golfer as he tries to make a comeback.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
Gaines, who is also a stand-up comedian, called Grigoryan’s response to his post “so bizarre,” “kind of slanderous” and “like a real-life ‘Seinfeld’ episode,” likening the Glendale chef to the show’s famously withholding Soup Nazi.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
He didn’t know I was a world-class legendary comedian.
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026
Trust me, man, pretty much every dude in here swears they’re some kind of comedian.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
You’ve spoken up against comedians taking jabs at marginalized people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
There’s a lot more dry comedians coming out of New York.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
Soon after, wannabe authoritarians attack the comedians, essayists, playwrights and poets.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
When one of China's biggest stand-up comedians opened his show with a joke about the extraordinarily long rule of the country's leader Xi Jinping, it drew a cheer, alongside a smattering of approving profanities.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
The crowd clapped along with the singers, laughed at the comedians, and sang folk songs and songs of the movement.
From "Because They Marched" by Russell Freedman
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.
