farcical

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɑː(ɹ)sɪkəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

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Etymology 1

From farce +‎ -ical, after comical etc.

Adjective

farcical (comparative more farcical, superlative most farcical)

1. Resembling a farce; ludicrous; absurd.
   • 2013 April 9, Andrei Lankov, “Stay Cool. Call North Korea's Bluff.”, in New York Times‎:

     A closer look at North Korean history reveals what Pyongyang’s leaders really want their near-farcical belligerence to achieve — a reminder to the world that North Korea exists, and an impression abroad that its leaders are irrational and unpredictable.

   • 2017 January 14, “Thailand's new king rejects the army's proposed constitution”, in The Economist‎:

     In August the generals won approval for the document in a referendum made farcical by a law which forbade campaigners from criticising the text.

   • 2022 January 13, Rajeev Syal et al., “No 10 party inquiry will reveal ‘farcical’ culture, say Whitehall sources”, in The Guardian‎:

     An inquiry into lockdown parties in Downing Street, which could determine the fate of Boris Johnson, is expected to lay bare a “farcical” culture of drinking and impromptu socialising, with little oversight from senior officials, the Guardian understands.

Derived terms

• farcicality
• farcically
• farcicalness
• semifarcical
• unfarcical

Related terms

• farce
• tragicofarcical

Translations

absurd

Dutch: bespottelijk (nl), lachwekkend (nl), kluchtig (nl), belachelijk (nl) Esperanto: ridinda Finnish: farssimainen, järjetön (fi) French: ridicule (fr), risible (fr), farfelu (fr), burlesque (fr), grotesque (fr) German: grotesk (de), irrwitzig (de), aberwitzig (de), absurd (de) Icelandic: fáránlegur; farsakenndur m, farsakennd n, farsakennt n; fjarstæðukenndur Latin: mimicus Polish: farsowy Romanian: caraghios (ro), absurd (ro), burlesc (ro), grotesc (ro) Russian: фарсовый (ru) (farsovyj) Spanish: farsesco (es) Swedish: farsartad (sv) Tagalog: matiyaw

Etymology 2

From farcy +‎ -ical.

Adjective

farcical (not comparable)

1. (veterinary medicine, obsolete, rare) Pertaining to farcy.

Further reading

• “farcical”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “farcical”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “farcical”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.