- [countable, uncountable]
a play, film or TV show that is intended to be funny, usually with a happy ending; plays, films and TV shows of this type 喜剧；喜剧片 a romantic comedy 浪漫喜剧 a black comedy (= a play or film that deals with unpleasant or terrible things in a humorous way) 黑色喜剧 a slapstick comedy 打闹喜剧 He moved to Los Angeles to write comedy. 他搬到洛杉矶写喜剧。 - comedy about somebody/something
a comedy about an eccentric family 关于一个古怪家庭的喜剧 She went on to star in a hit comedy series. 她继续出演一部热门喜剧系列。 His TV comedy shows ran during the 70s and 80s. 他的电视喜剧节目在70年代和80年代播出。 a comedy series/show 喜剧系列/节目
Extra ExamplesTopics Film and theatrea2, TV, radio and newsa2Does he play comedy? 他演喜剧吗？ a popular romantic comedy 深受喜爱的浪漫喜剧 They spent hours watching comedy on television. 他们看了几个小时的电视喜剧片。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- high
- low
- film
- …
- do
- play
- actor
- actress
- writer
- …
- a comedy of errors
- a comedy of manners
- [uncountable]
professional entertainment with jokes, short acts, etc. that is intended to be funny 喜剧： 以开玩笑，短片表演等为目的的专业娱乐活动The show combines theatre with the best of stand-up and sketch comedy. 这场演出将戏剧与最好的单口喜剧和小品喜剧结合在一起。
- [uncountable]
a humorous aspect of something 滑稽；幽默；诙谐 Her imaginative interpretation of the script brought out the comedy inherent in it. 她对剧本的富有想象力的解释揭示了其中固有的喜剧性。 He didn't appreciate the comedy of the situation. 他未领略到这种局面的滑稽可笑之处。 The visual comedy of this scene is obvious. 这一幕的视觉喜剧性很明显。
Culture humourhumourA sense of humour (NAmE humor), an ability to see the funny side of life, is considered essential by most British and American people. Everyone needs to be able to laugh at themselves sometimes, and to recognize that the situation they are in may look funny to others. It is considered a serious criticism of somebody to say that they have no sense of humour. When people are trying to meet other people, for example on an internet dating site, they often ask for possible partners to have a GSOH (good sense of humour).Some people have a dry sense of humour, and can keep a straight face (= not smile) and make their voice sound as though they are being serious when they are joking. Other people are said to be witty (= show a very clever type of humour). A person's sense of humour is influenced by many things, including family and social background and age.British and American humour on stage have some important differences, although the fact that some comedy television shows are popular in both countries shows that there is common ground. For example, American TV shows such as The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory are as popular in Britain as some of its own TV comedy shows. Sitcoms (= shows in which the humour comes from situations that the characters get into) often have a laugh track (= a recording of people laughing) so that the audience at home will know when things people say and do are meant to be funny. In many sitcoms gentle fun is made of ordinary life without the risk of causing anyone serious offence.American stage humour is more direct than British comedy. In the American series Parks and Recreation, for instance, the humour comes from characters behaving in stupid ways. But in the British comedy Fawlty Towers Basil Fawlty's funny characteristics are exaggerated versions of those found in the type of person he represents. David Brent's character in The Office is funny for the same reason. Slapstick comedy, which is based on people falling over, crashing into each other, etc. is now less popular in Britain.British comedy often makes use of irony, humour which depends on suggesting the opposite of what is actually expressed. Many novels, films, stage plays, etc. use irony, even when discussing serious subjects such as death. Popular humour may sometimes rely on double entendre (= using a phrase that can be understood in two ways, one of which is usually sexual) or on innuendo (= making an indirect suggestion of something rude). These were both used a lot in the popular series of Carry On films that began in the 1960s.Satire (= making people or institutions appear silly to show how stupid or bad they are) is an important element of popular British political comedy programmes. One of the most successful British comedy series, which also became popular in the US, was Monty Python's Flying Circus. It had a zany (= odd and silly) and satirical humour. Comic strips and cartoons, whether printed in newspapers, shown on television or the internet or made into films, are popular in both the US and Britain. Famous examples that started in the 1940s and 50s are Tom and Jerry and Peanuts. More recently, The Simpsons and Family Guy are very popular TV cartoons.Stand-up comedians perform on television or in clubs, telling gags (= jokes) and funny stories which end with a punchline, the part where the audience is supposed to laugh. Many comedians tell jokes that are funny because of sexual innuendo, and this is usually not considered suitable for family audiences. In Britain, common targets of comedians include politicians and British habits and customs. Observational humour makes observations about things people do in their everyday lives but have not noticed or discussed before.Many people tell jokes at school, at home and at the office. People may start a speech with a joke or funny story to help break the ice (= make people feel more relaxed).Children tell jokes that involve a play on words, such as knock-knock jokes or ‘What do you call …’ jokes, for example, ‘What do you call a man with a seagull on his head?’ ‘Cliff’.Adults sometimes tell jokes that make fun of common characteristics of people who do a particular job. For example, light bulb jokes suggest mistakes these people would make in trying to change a light bulb: ‘How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?’ - ‘None. The bulb will change itself when it is ready.’ Jokes about people from particular countries, people of a particular race, religion or gender, or people with disabilities are not acceptable.Practical jokes involve tricking people, and are not usually very popular, but on April Fool's Day (1 April) it is traditional for people to play practical jokes on each other. Newspapers often include a story that is not true hoping that some readers will believe it and then feel silly.
Word Originlate Middle English (as a genre of drama, also denoting a narrative poem with a happy ending, as in Dante's Divine Comedy): from Old French comedie, via Latin from Greek kōmōidia, from kōmōidos ‘comic poet’, from kōmos ‘revel’ + aoidos ‘singer’.