Skip to main content
comedian

comedian

267 1.7
A person who makes people laugh by telling jokes or acting
  • noun
  • /kəˈmiːdiən/
translation icon : comediante
  • During the festival, several comedians performed stand-up routines that delighted the crowd.
  • great comedian
  • popular comedian
  • late-night comedian

Danny McBride is my favorite comedian now.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The good thing being a comedian.

  • But then why be a comedian and who are you?

  • But I think that as a comedian, it should be.

  • The only adjective that a comedian wants is funny.

  • Who do you think are the best comedians and why?

  • He was a great comedian and movie actor.

  • Danny McBride is my favorite comedian now.

  • It's just been confirmed that comedian Tom Dobbs has won Arizona.

  • PJ O'Rourke, the comedian who died this year.

  • Plus, I've always thought that comedians were incredibly smart.

Synonyms

clown
vscomedian
372 1.0

A performer who wears bright clothes and makes people laugh

uses wider comedy methods like jokes and acting not only silliness
comic
vscomedian
145 2.5

A person who tells jokes to make people laugh

focuses more broadly on making people laugh including acting in comedies
entertainer
vscomedian
117 2.1

A person who performs to make people laugh or enjoy themselves

aims specifically to make people laugh rather than just amuse or interest
jester
vscomedian
23 7.4

A person who entertains a king or queen with jokes and tricks

works in modern public entertainment aimed at general audiences rather than courts
comedienne
vscomedian
  • Archaic
23 7.0

A woman who makes people laugh on stage or television

is the gender neutral term for any performer who makes people laugh
humorist
vscomedian
  • US
12 5.0

A person who makes people laugh by telling funny stories or jokes

focuses mainly on live performing and acting to make people laugh
funnyman
vscomedian
5 3.7

A man who makes people laugh by telling jokes or acting in a silly way

is the neutral term covering people of any gender who make others laugh
standup comedian
vscomedian
1 3.2

A person who tells jokes alone on stage to an audience

is broader and includes different comedy formats beyond solo stage acts

Compounds

A person who tells jokes alone on stage to an audience

How Funny

comic
145 2.5
comedian
267 1.7
joker
35 2.4

Surface Forms

comedian singular
comedians plural

Morphology

comedian = comedy (transparent) = comedy + ian

The agentive suffix '-ian' added to 'comedy' clearly yields 'a person associated with comedy', which a learner who knows 'comedy' will readily infer.

Etymology

The word comedian comes from comedy, which goes back to old Greek parts komos ('party') and aeidein ('to sing'). Long ago a comedy was a short, funny song or play at a festival, so a comedian is a person who performs to make people laugh.