1. 1. A dramatic work that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone and that usually contains a happy resolution of the thematic conflict.
   2. The genre made up of such works.
2. A literary or cinematic work of a comic nature or that uses the themes or methods of comedy.
3. Popular entertainment composed of jokes, satire, or humorous performance.
4. The art of composing or performing comedy.
5. A humorous element of life or literature: the human comedy of political campaigns.
6. A humorous occurrence.

comedy of errors

1. A ludicrous event or sequence of events: The candidate's campaign turned out to be a political comedy of errors.

[Middle English comedie, from Medieval Latin cōmēdia, from Latin cōmoedia, from Greek kōmōidia, from kōmōidos, comic actor : kōmos, revel + aoidos, singer (from aeidein, to sing).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.