Dictionary

farce en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• färs (General-American)
• (UK) audio
• /fɑɹs/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /fɑːs/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French farce (“farce (style of humor); stuffing”) (in the latter sense, via Middle English fars, farsse), from Old French farse, from Medieval Latin farsa, from the feminine perfect passive participle of Latin farciō (“to stuff”). The theatre sense alludes to the pleasant and varied character of certain stuffed food items. Doublet of farse.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) A style of humor marked by broad improbabilities with little regard to regularity or method.
2. (countable) A motion picture or play featuring this style of humor.
   • The farce that we saw last night had us laughing and shaking our heads at the same time.
   • Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language[…]; his clerks […] understood him very well. If he had written a love letter, or a farce, or a ballade, or a story, no one, either clerks, or friends, or compositors, would have understood anything but a word here and a word there. 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
3. (uncountable) A situation abounding with ludicrous incidents.
   • The first month of labor negotiations was a farce.
   • The first match in the magnificent new national stadium was a Euro 2012 qualifier between Romania and France that soon descended into farce as the pitch cut up and players struggled to maintain their footing. Amorebieta at times seemed to be paying homage to that game, but nobody else seemed to have a problem; it was just that Falcao was far better than him. 2012 May 9, Jonathan Wilson, “Europa League: Radamel Falcao's Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao”, in the Guardian:
4. (uncountable) A ridiculous or empty show.
   • The United States, he declared, was "a farce controlled by dirty, hook-nosed, circumcised Jew bastards." 2019, Stephanie Butnick, Liel Leibovitz, Mark Oppenheimer, The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia - From Abraham to Zabar's and Everything in Between:
5. (countable) An elaborate lie.
6. (countable, uncountable) Forcemeat, stuffing.

Forms

Coordinates

tragedy

Deriveds

workfarce · melofarce · farcify · farcist · farceness · farcilite · farcical · farcement · farcelike · tragifarce

Hypernyms

comedy

Relateds

farse · travesty · far breton

Translations (76)

fi farssi (ridiculous or empty show) · de Posse (style of humor) · lt farsas (style of humor) · nl farce (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · bg фарс (ridiculous or empty show) · es farsa (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · yi פֿאַרס (style of humor) · nl klucht (ridiculous or empty show) · is skopleikur (style of humor) · ml പ്രഹസനം (style of humor) · la mīmus (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · pt farsa (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · bg фарс (style of humor) · ro farsă (style of humor) · cmn 鬧劇 /闹剧 (style of humor) · de Farce (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · la mīmus (style of humor) · da farce (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · nl schertsvertoning (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · ja ファルス (style of humor) · pt farsa (style of humor) · cmn 鬧劇 /闹剧 (ridiculous or empty show) · is skopleikur (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · nb farse (style of humor) · nl klucht (style of humor) · cs fraška (style of humor) · cs nádivka (forcemeat) · is skrípaleikur (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · is farsi (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · nl schertsvertoning (ridiculous or empty show) · ro farsă (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · fr farce (style of humor) · is skopleikur (ridiculous or empty show) · cs sekaná (forcemeat) · pl farsa (ridiculous or empty show) · bg комедия (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · nl farce (ridiculous or empty show) · da farce (ridiculous or empty show) · de Farce (style of humor) · da farce (style of humor) · fi farssi (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · it farsa (style of humor) · ru фарс (ridiculous or empty show) · is ærlsaleikur (style of humor) · sv fars (ridiculous or empty show) · sv fars (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · ru фарс (style of humor) · tl tiyaw (style of humor) · is farsi (style of humor) · cs fraška (ridiculous or empty show) · sv buskis (style of humor) · ru балага́н (ridiculous or empty show) · nl schijnvertoning (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · nl komedie (style of humor) · pt farsa (ridiculous or empty show) · lt farsas (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · de Farce (ridiculous or empty show) · ja 笑劇 (style of humor) · nl schijnvertoning (ridiculous or empty show) · pl farsa (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · es farsa (style of humor) · sv fars (style of humor) · es sainete (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · is skrípaleikur (ridiculous or empty show) · nn farse (style of humor) · nl blijspel (style of humor) · nl farce (style of humor) · ru фарс (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · cs fraška (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · nl klucht (situation full of ludicrous incidents) · la mīmus (ridiculous or empty show) · is sýndarmennska (ridiculous or empty show) · pl farsa (style of humor) · eo farso (style of humor) · fi farssi (style of humor) · lt farsas (ridiculous or empty show)

farce en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• färs (General-American)
• (UK) audio
• /fɑɹs/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /fɑːs/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English farcen, from Old French farsir, farcir, from Latin farciō (“to cram, stuff”). Doublet of farse.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To stuff with forcemeat or other food items.
   • The lunch […] consisted […] of […] lobster mayonnaise, cold game sausages, an immense veal and ham pie farced with eggs, truffles, and numberless delicious flavours; besides kickshaws, creams and sweetmeats. 1923, Walter de la Mare, Seaton's Aunt:
2. (figuratively, transitive) To fill full; to stuff.
   • The first principles of religion should not be farced with school points and private tenets. 1678, Robert Sanderson, Pax Ecclesiae:
3. (obsolete, transitive) To make fat.
   • [I]f thou would’ſt farce thy leane Ribs with it [pork] too, they would not (like ragged Lathes) rub out ſo many Dublets as they do: […] 1599 (first performance), B. I. [i.e., Ben Jonson], The Comicall Satyre of Euery Man out of His Humor. […], London: […] [Adam Islip] for William Holme, […], published 1600, →OCLC, Act V, scene iii, signature [P iiij], recto:
4. (obsolete, transitive) To swell out; to render pompous.
   • farcing his letter with fustian 1615, George Sandys, “(please specify the page)”, in The Relation of a Iourney Begun An: Dom: 1610. […], London: […] [Richard Field] for W. Barrett, →OCLC:
5. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of farse (“to insert vernacular paraphrases into (a Latin liturgy)”).
   alt of farse

Forms

Translations (6)

bg фаршировам (to stuff with forcemeat) · cs nadívat (to stuff with forcemeat) · de farcieren (to stuff with forcemeat) · fr farcir (to stuff with forcemeat) · nl farceren (to stuff with forcemeat) · bg пълня (to stuff with forcemeat)