English Dictionary

Definition of “farce”

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farce (fɑːsPronunciation for farce) 

Definitions

noun

  1. a broadly humorous play based on the exploitation of improbable situations
  2. the genre of comedy represented by works of this kind
  3. a ludicrous situation or action
  4. farcemeatanother name for forcemeat

verb (tr)

obsolete 
  1. to enliven (a speech, etc) with jokes
  2. to stuff (meat, fowl, etc) with forcemeat

Word Origin

C14 (in the sense: stuffing): from Old French, from Latin farcīre to stuff, interpolate passages (in the mass, in religious plays, etc)

Usage examples

  • At that precise moment, the bread he had set in the toaster had popped up, as if to accentuate the farce.
    Bringle, Mary, Death of an Unknown Man (1987)
  • For the Congress president 1997 was a tragic year, when farce repeated itself as farce.
    India Today (1998)
  • The Bloody Sunday inquiry is turning from farce to tragedy," he said.
    Irish Times (2002)
  • The actor appeared onstage, in everything from farce to Shakespearean tragedy.
    Glasgow Herald (2001)
  • If the Belmont Hospital affair had an element of cruel farce , much of what followed was tragic.
    Williams, John, Bloody Valentine, A Killing in Cardiff (1994)

Commonness

All English words that begin with 'F'

Related Terms

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