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.

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

The zone where normalcy collides with extremity — where high comedy and psychological terror keep company — is her sweet spot.

From New York Times • Dec. 7, 2017

Leech sketched and Tenniel drew; Leech gave us farce and drama, and Tenniel, high comedy and tragedy; and the freedom of the one heightened the severer beauties of the other.

From The History of "Punch" by Spielmann, M. H. (Marion Harry)

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