slapstick
6
4.9
- noun
- /ˈslæpˌstɪk/
- Kids love cartoons that incorporate slapstick antics, such as characters slipping on banana peels and bumping into walls.
- slapstick comedy
- slapstick humor
- slapstick routine
Examples
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Many viewers enjoy the classic slapstick scenes, where individuals comically collide or engage in over-the-top physical comedy.
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Unfortunately, we could not understand the jokes they were saying, although the slapstick was obvious.
Academic text (2005) -
It's like slapstick humor, which is an extreme, an extreme version of it, right?
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That's like a slapstick comedy, man.
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British Wit vs. American Slapstick
Blog text (32) -
In recent years, he'd cut films only for Mel Adler, a droll, balding guy who was one of Hollywood's leading directors of slapstick comedy.
Fiction book (1997) -
Similarly, the authors think Neanderthals could probably laugh at humor—slapstick, clowning—but wouldn't understand jokes.
Blog text (11) -
The film relies heavily on slapstick humor, featuring comical falls and exaggerated miscommunication between characters.
Synonyms
5
3.2
Acting in a silly way to make people laugh
3
5.8
A series of mistakes that cause funny, confusing problems
1
6.7
Funny acting in plays or films that uses physical actions and rude jokes
1
9.9
A short funny act that makes people laugh in a show
1
5.6
Funny performance by a clown with acts and physical tricks
How Sophisticated
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Slapstick comes from the two words slap ('a quick hit') and stick ('a piece of wood') and first named a small wooden tool used in shows that makes a loud slapping noise without hurting anyone. So slapstick now means a type of comedy with big, physical actions like falls and silly fights that are meant to make people laugh.