high comedy

American

noun

comedy dealing with polite society, characterized by sophisticated, witty dialogue and an intricate plot.

high comedy British

noun

comedy set largely among cultured and articulate people and featuring witty dialogue Compare low comedy

"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

Other Word Forms

high comedian

noun

Etymology

Origin of high comedy

First recorded in 1890–95

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:

high comedy

This makes for page after page of high comedy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2023

“It was high comedy, it was funny and then to have it turn …”

From Slate ● May 1, 2023

I wonder if that was part of your education in finding that tension between the sorrow and the high comedy?

From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2023

So to literally every sane person outside New England, you're welcome for the high comedy.

From Golf Digest ● Oct. 14, 2019

Leigh Hunt compared him favourably with Garrick; Byron thought him inimitable in high comedy; Macready praised his versatility.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 "Electrostatics" to "Engis" by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023