1
as in joke
something said or done to cause laughter
the film's sophisticated drolleries will elicit smiles and chuckles even upon repeated viewings
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2
as in humor
the amusing quality or element in something
though generally serious, the novel about a seriously dysfunctional family is not without drollery
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Recent Examples of drollery
Matthew Rankin’s latest surreal comedy, between hilarious drollery and bitter disillusionment.
—
J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
His ambition and synthetic public persona are the butt of countless withering drolleries.
—Giles Harvey, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
Griffin’s front-court mate DeAndre Jordan, although deeply intense, mirrored Griffin’s drollery in candid postgame interviews.
—Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 3 July 2024
But his method is mostly charging into the fray, shouting battle cries or tossing out Australian drollery.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 May 2024
The starry cast runs full force with his nesting-doll plots and deadpan drolleries, the color palette comes saturated in a Pantone riot of blues, pinks and egg-yolk yellows, and the tone flips nimbly from tender to absurd, more Dahl sweetness than arsenic.
—Leah Greenblatt, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
With LuPone’s perversely opportunistic Mrs. Lovett reviewing the prospective cannibalistic menu, his Sweeney perfectly complemented her cockeyed humor with his own savage drollery.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2023
Lapine’s book is marvelously inventive, full of elbow-nudging drollery and melancholy rumination.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2023
Initially, Etero seems quite content with their sporadic encounters, which DP Agnesh Pakozdi films, like everything else, with a warm, matter-of-fact drollery that celebrates the congress of older bodies without glamorizing it.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 7 June 2023
J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
His ambition and synthetic public persona are the butt of countless withering drolleries.
—Giles Harvey, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
Griffin’s front-court mate DeAndre Jordan, although deeply intense, mirrored Griffin’s drollery in candid postgame interviews.
—Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 3 July 2024
But his method is mostly charging into the fray, shouting battle cries or tossing out Australian drollery.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 May 2024
The starry cast runs full force with his nesting-doll plots and deadpan drolleries, the color palette comes saturated in a Pantone riot of blues, pinks and egg-yolk yellows, and the tone flips nimbly from tender to absurd, more Dahl sweetness than arsenic.
—Leah Greenblatt, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
With LuPone’s perversely opportunistic Mrs. Lovett reviewing the prospective cannibalistic menu, his Sweeney perfectly complemented her cockeyed humor with his own savage drollery.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2023
Lapine’s book is marvelously inventive, full of elbow-nudging drollery and melancholy rumination.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2023
Initially, Etero seems quite content with their sporadic encounters, which DP Agnesh Pakozdi films, like everything else, with a warm, matter-of-fact drollery that celebrates the congress of older bodies without glamorizing it.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 7 June 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drollery
Noun
-
But the joke’s on me after his sweet touch and finish (above) at Manchester United in the Europa League last night.—
Phil Hay,
The Athletic,
24 Jan. 2025
-
These shows are led by a cast of improv comedians, leading into the various personalities’ wit and humor over scripted jokes.—
Sara Belcher,
People.com,
24 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Yet, the best way to experience Maniscalco’s nostalgic, observational brand of humor is to check him out in concert.—
Jim Harrington,
The Mercury News,
15 Jan. 2025
-
Publicize your acknowledgment of wrongdoing in a way that feels authentic to your brand and the scale of the misstep—and, if appropriate, a bit of self-deprecating humor often helps.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes,
15 Jan. 2025
Noun
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After a few more laughs, Reynolds turned sentimental and shared some heartfelt words about Jackman.—
Mitchell Peters,
Billboard,
25 Jan. 2025
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My wife got a good laugh out of my fleeting optimism.—
Jon Greenberg,
The Athletic,
24 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The irony is striking—the man who built his political brand on confronting China now fights to resurrect one of its most effective tools for gathering American data.—
Raul A. Reyes,
Newsweek,
22 Jan. 2025
-
The irony of this moment in U.S. history is that while U.S citizens view immigration and the economy as their most pressing issues – carrying out anti-immigration plans will stall and harm the U.S. economy, and in turn, reduce quality of life.—
London School of Economics,
Forbes,
22 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
That is kind of a tongue-in-cheek witticism amongst those who do this for a living.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
18 Dec. 2024
-
Big as the performance is, Stiller isn’t alone: Writer-director-star Eric Schaeffer also pillages shamelessly from the Sundance playbook of whimsy, giving himself the lion’s share of irony-laden pickup lines and depressive witticisms about the pointlessness of romance.—
Sean Malin,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2024
Noun
-
Tim Lammers For example, SPE’s summer action comedy smash Bad Boys: Ride or Die opened in theaters on June 7 PVOD and arrived on PVOD about six weeks later, on July 23.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes,
18 Jan. 2025
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The original did air on NBC, which could rebuild a comedy block to try to bring back Must-See TV.—
Emily Longeretta,
Variety,
18 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near drollery
Cite this Entry
“Drollery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drollery. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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