Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
standup comedian

standup comedian

1 3.2
A person who tells jokes alone on stage to an audience
  • noun
  • /ˈstændˌʌp kəˈmiːdiən/
translation icon : comediante de stand-up
  • However, that is part of life as a traveling standup comedian/economist; we spend a lot of time in airports.

Examples

  • About the Author: Andrew Martin is an award-winning writer and entertainer who, for over thirty years, has been an actor, singer, dancer on stage as well as in film and television, an entertainment journalist for news in print, broadcast, and Internet sources, a standup comedian and cabaret singer, and a film historian.

    Blog text (24)

  • Craig has traveled itinerantly, speaking at churches, conferences, and special events, as well as performing as a standup comedian.

    Blog text (24)

  • I was gonna be a standup comedian.

    Planet Terror (2007)

  • I'm going to be a standup comedian.

    Planet Terror (2007)

  • Before or after you toured as a standup comedian?

    Sweet November (2001)

  • One of my favourite (and possibly apocryphal) stories is of one of Kirk Douglas's sons (Eric, I think) working as a standup comedian and dealing with a heckler by saying, "Don't you know who I am?"

    Blog text (26)

  • The standup comedian made the audience laugh uncontrollably with her hilarious jokes.

  • As a standup comedian, he performs every weekend at the local club, sharing stories that resonate with his fans.

  • With her unique style, the standup comedian captivated the crowd and kept them entertained for over an hour.

Synonyms

comedian
vsstandup comedian
267 1.7

A person who makes people laugh by telling jokes or acting

is the solo performer who delivers jokes directly from the stage
comic
vsstandup comedian
145 2.5

A person who tells jokes to make people laugh

focuses on solo stage delivery of jokes directly to an audience

How Funny

clown
372 1.0
standup comedian
1 3.2
comedian
267 1.7
jester
23 7.4
storyteller
64 2.3

Surface Forms

standup comedian singular
standup comedians plural

Morphology

standup + comedian

The compound is compositionally built from 'stand up' + 'comedian': a comedian who performs standing (i.e., delivering jokes on stage). This formation follows a regular English pattern (verb/particle + noun) and is cross-linguistically recognizable, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

The term standup comedian comes from the simple image of a comic who literally stands up on stage and tells jokes to the crowd alone. That's why it means 'a solo performer who tells jokes to an audience'.