comedy of manners

noun phrase

: comedy that satirically portrays the manners and fashions of a particular class or set

Examples of comedy of manners in a Sentence

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Funny and poignant in equal measure, the comedy of manners does sag here and there, with a noticeable energy dip around the two-thirds mark. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Jan. 2025 The modern retelling of the comedy of manners, starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Youn Yuh-jung, Joan Chen and Han Gi-chan, premieres at Sundance Film Festival on Monday. Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 27 Jan. 2025 This is a political drama and a thriller and a comedy of manners and a rom-com. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2024 Those kinds of works, like New Yorker cartoons, can fall on the wrong side of precious pretty quickly, being all light comedy of manners with little heft. Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2024 Lots more followed in the novel after that, The Spell (1998), a stylish but ultimately failed attempt at a comedy of manners about four men who mostly just drink too much, do some drugs, and tumble into bed with one another. Charles McGrath, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2024 So far, the pitch-black comedy of manners, starring James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis, has grossed $28 million in North America and $57.7 million worldwide. Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 29 Sep. 2024 Social classes and generations clash in this black comedy of manners set in the stunning English countryside, where the responsibility of conserving the family legacy is not for the faint-hearted. Matt Grobar, Deadline, 19 July 2024 The squirmy comedy of manners introduced May’s discovery, Charles Grodin, to the world. Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1822, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of comedy of manners was in 1822

Dictionary Entries Near comedy of manners

Cite this Entry

“Comedy of manners.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comedy%20of%20manners. Accessed 8 Feb. 2025.

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