low comedy

American  

noun

1. comedy that depends on physical action, broadly humorous or farcical situations, and often bawdy or vulgar jokes.

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low comedy British  

noun

1. comedy characterized by slapstick and physical action

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Other Word Forms

• low comedian
  noun

Etymology

Origin of low comedy

First recorded in 1600–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

low comedy

Most of this low comedy is witless and irrelevant, dissipating the tension.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Sounds sad, but the show blends high and low comedy with weighty themes and melancholic moments.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2025

But he’s now knocking 70 and suffering through an undignified low comedy of back problems, tinnitus and spiritual malaise.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 11, 2019

She plays these moments, at the start, for either existential or low comedy.

From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2015

In fact, my attitude was perilously near to that of the Arkansas audiences as analysed by the Duke in "Huckleberry Finn": "What they wanted was low comedy—and maybe something ruther worse than low comedy."

From Far Off Things by Arthur Machen