high comedy

American  

noun

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

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high comedy British  

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• high comedian
  noun

Etymology

Origin of high comedy

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

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

Williams was careful to make that moment of high comedy fit the tone.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 2, 2022

For golf fans of a certain age, televised interviews with Masters winners by Augusta National chairmen were once considered high comedy.

From Golf Digest • Apr. 6, 2020

McCabe’s accounts of his baffled interactions with Jeff Sessions, the former attorney general, would be high comedy if they were not so dire.

From New York Times • Feb. 16, 2019

The past half-hour tossed itself into the foreground of his mind, clad in the skirts of high comedy.

From The Conqueror by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn