farce
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to season (a speech or composition), especially with witty material.
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Obsolete. to stuff; cram.
noun
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a broadly humorous play based on the exploitation of improbable situations
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the genre of comedy represented by works of this kind
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a ludicrous situation or action
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Also: farcemeat. another name for forcemeat
verb
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to enliven (a speech, etc) with jokes
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to stuff (meat, fowl, etc) with forcemeat
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of farce
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
Explanation
A farce is a broad satire or comedy, though now it's used to describe something that is supposed to be serious but has turned ridiculous. If a defendant is not treated fairly, his lawyer might say that the trial is a farce. As a type of comedy, a farce uses improbable situations, physical humor and silliness to entertain. Spoof films such as "Spaceballs," a comedy based on the Star Wars movies, are farces. If a real-life event or situation is a farce, it feels this ridiculous. An election is a farce, if the outcome has been determined before the voting begins. And class can feel like a farce if your substitute teacher knows less about the subject than you do.
Vocabulary lists containing farce
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 14–18
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This Week in Words: August 28 - September 1
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Drama Terminology
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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:
And though the characters in this kind of farce are usually married, it seems that over the course of 20 years one girlfriend would have asked the other, “Is that cordite you’re wearing?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
The inspections regime was portrayed as a farce.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
“Merrily” turns out to be an unexpectedly amusing farce with echoes of “My Man Godfrey.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
The drama approaches dark farce as Madame flings around her bedroom in a frenzy of dressing and primping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
The prince laughed, as he always laughed when his bodyguard did this mummer's farce.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
And theatergoers new to the play will encounter, whether they recognize it or not, one of the great modern English language farces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2025
These actors sparked off each other, in fast-moving farces or quieter character moments.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 27, 2023
Onstage, onscreen and in books, her novels have been recast as slapstick farces, fantasy mash-ups, all-hands-on-deck Bollywood extravaganzas and saucy rom-coms.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2022
The film was well received, but Mr. Morse struggled to translate his theatrical success to the screen, appearing in light comedies and bedroom farces that were largely ignored by viewers.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2022
His talent as an author already had manifested itself by several farces and charades written for his colleague, M. Lenormant d’Étioles, the husband of Madame de Pompadour, at whose château d’Étioles they were produced.
From Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence by Kite, Elizabeth S.
These may also be stew'd, farced, baked, or put in Soups, or used in Fricassees.
From The Country Housewife and Lady's Director in the Management of a House, and the Delights and Profits of a Farm by Bradley, Richard
The enemy's ranks were not forced with Macbeth's followers, but farced or filled up.
From Literary Blunders by Wheatley, Henry Benjamin
The Dublin Troper of the thirteenth century has a number of farced Kyries and Glorias, also a collection of Sequences.
From The Glories of Ireland by Lennox, P. J.
You may make a Sauce to these farced Fowls with stew'd Mushrooms toss'd up with Cream; the same may be done with Turkeys, Pheasants, &c.
From The Country Housewife and Lady's Director in the Management of a House, and the Delights and Profits of a Farm by Bradley, Richard
The word forced should be read farced, the letter o having evidently dropped down into a box.
From Literary Blunders by Wheatley, Henry Benjamin
To many, the daring experiment of farcing what was obviously written as a farce, instead of playing it in the more usual " Oh Lord, here's a classic!" manner, seemed highly successful.
From Time Magazine Archive
To rost Shoulder or Fillet of Veal with farcing herbs.
From The Queen-like Closet or Rich Cabinet Stored with all manner of rare receipts for preserving, candying and cookery. Very pleasant and beneficial to all ingenious persons of the female sex by Wolley, Hannah
I have; and if I’m to die respected and honored, if my family is to have any regard for my memory, I’ve got to get out of farcing.
From The Dreamers A Club by Bangs, John Kendrick
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.
