Farce

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Farce

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

noun

Pronunciation

FARSS  /fɑːs/

Definition

A comic dramatic work using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterisation and ludicrously improbable situations. Also: an absurd event, especially one badly organised, that is not intended to be comic but appears so.

Plain meaning

A wildly comic play built on ridiculous situations — and, more broadly, any disastrously chaotic event that seems almost too absurd to be real.

Register

The theatrical sense is neutral and technical. The figurative sense ranges from amused to exasperated — calling something a farce is dismissive and critical.