Antonyms for comedy


Grammar : Noun
Spell : kom-i-dee
Phonetic Transcription : ˈkɒm ɪ di


Definition of comedy

Origin :
  • late 14c., from Old French comedie (14c., "a poem," not in the theatrical sense), from Latin comoedia, from Greek komoidia "a comedy, amusing spectacle," probably from komodios "actor or singer in the revels," from komos "revel, carousal, merry-making, festival," + aoidos "singer, poet," from aeidein "to sing," related to oide (see ode).
  • The passage on the nature of comedy in the Poetic of Aristotle is unfortunately lost, but if we can trust stray hints on the subject, his definition of comedy (which applied mainly to Menander) ran parallel to that of tragedy, and described the art as a purification of certain affections of our nature, not by terror and pity, but by laughter and ridicule. [Rev. J.P. Mahaffy, "A History of Classical Greek Literature," London, 1895]
  • The classical sense of the word, then, was "amusing play or performance," which is similar to the modern one, but in the Middle Ages the word came to mean poems and stories generally (albeit ones with happy endings), and the earliest English sense is "narrative poem" (e.g. Dante's "Commedia"). Generalized sense of "quality of being amusing" dates from 1877.
  • Comedy aims at entertaining by the fidelity with which it presents life as we know it, farce at raising laughter by the outrageous absurdity of the situation or characters exhibited, & burlesque at tickling the fancy of the audience by caricaturing plays or actors with whose style it is familiar. [Fowler]
  • noun funny entertainment
Example sentences :
  • For other passages containing the comedy of "peering," v. Bac.
  • Extract from : « The Dramatic Values in Plautus » by Wilton Wallace Blancke
  • His lower orders are all food for comedy or farce: he will not treat them seriously.
  • Extract from : « The Man Shakespeare » by Frank Harris
  • How funny their tragedy had been, how sad their comedy, Momus only might tell.
  • Extract from : « Meadow Grass » by Alice Brown
  • No, nor spectators enough, if we tried to get up a comedy, added Altamont.
  • Extract from : « The Field of Ice » by Jules Verne
  • Frogs the frisky, frogs the spotted, were our comedy that day.
  • Extract from : « The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 58, August, 1862 » by Various
  • This would have been fair play, and comic; but the comedy should have ended by this time.
  • Extract from : « Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10) » by Maria Edgeworth
  • The laughing Thalia, the Muse of Comedy, saw him as she dropped from the sky.
  • Extract from : « Classic Myths » by Mary Catherine Judd
  • Comedy of intrigue and comedy of character lead to no real catastrophe.
  • Extract from : « The American Mind » by Bliss Perry
  • How my heart bled for you when you said, 'I see no other end to the comedy than fall.
  • Extract from : « Cleo The Magnificent » by Louis Zangwill
  • Monseigneur came there as usual, on returning from the comedy.
  • Extract from : « The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency, Complete » by Duc de Saint-Simon

Synonyms for comedy

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019