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
-
While the bit was planned, some questioned whether she had been let in on the joke.—
Theresa Braine,
New York Daily News,
17 Feb. 2025
-
Sunday night's show packed five decades of memories, references, music, and jokes into a three-hour program that was high on emotion, heart, and laughs.—
Melissa Locker,
TIME,
17 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
White was known for her wry smile and biting humor, which, even in her older years, never dulled our tamed.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA TODAY,
22 Feb. 2025
-
Following her breakout appearance on the Comedy Central Roast of James Franco, Natasha quickly became known for her biting and quick-witted insult humor.—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
21 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Will Ferrell's physical comedy still gets all the laughs on Saturday Night Live.—
Angela Andaloro,
People.com,
17 Feb. 2025
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But at least Kristen Wiig provided reliable laughs as weirdo singing sister Dooneese.—
Judy Berman,
TIME,
17 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
And the final irony of it all is the speaker was right in the beginning.—
ABC NEWS,
ABC News,
27 Feb. 2025
-
But Stewart didn’t miss a beat, continuing to point out the irony of subsidies for wildly profitable companies whose workers don’t earn enough to live on.—
Theresa Braine,
New York Daily News,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The laminated menu taped to the wall was stocked with the usual cheap alcoholic concoctions, plus the occasional witticism and curiosity.—
Hannah Gold,
Harper's Magazine,
19 Feb. 2025
-
It’s often noted that TikTok played a major role in the online shift from text to video, changing the shape of memes, as the snappy, often-anonymous witticisms of Twitter were steadily replaced by intimate close-ups of TikTokers monologuing in their bedrooms.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes,
19 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
McElhenney is also the showrunner and star of Apple TV+’s video game workplace comedy Mythic Quest, currently airing its fourth season.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
22 Feb. 2025
-
The result was a raucous and at times sentimental at television's most famous comedy hour.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA TODAY,
22 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Drollery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drollery. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
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