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.
That is a real social phenomenon, by the way, but nowhere as farcical as it’s depicted here.
From Salon • Jul. 6, 2026
Left said it was a farcical claim that an individual trader could manipulate such huge stocks.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026
As witty as it is wise, McLeod’s play dives into the farcical realm of L.A.’s wildly overpriced real estate market while delivering genuine commentary about the sociopolitical dynamics that made it that way.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026
It capped a farcical night for a friendly that started an hour late due to a disagreement over which colors each team should wear.
From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026
They dug trenches, secured supply lines and were sent out on night exercises that were farcical for the infantrymen because the purpose was never explained and there was a shortage of weapons.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
