Meaning & use
comic
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Funny and intended to make people laugh.
Grammar: Used before a noun: a comic actor, comic timing.
Patterns
- comic + noun
The play is a comic look at family life.
She has great comic timing.
He is known for his comic roles in films.
nouncountable
A magazine or book that tells stories through drawings, often with speech bubbles.
Grammar: Countable: a comic, two comics.
Patterns
- a comic
- comics
He collects old comics from the 1960s.
The children were reading a comic in the back seat.
She drew her own comic about a superhero cat.
Word forms
| plural | comics |
|---|
Common combinations
- comic book
- He bought a comic book at the store.
- comic strip
- The newspaper runs a comic strip every day.
- comic relief
- The funny character provides comic relief in the serious film.
Synonyms and how they differ
- funny
- General word for something that makes you laugh; comic is more formal and often describes intended humor in performance.
- humorous
- Suggests a gentle, clever kind of funniness; comic can be broader and more energetic.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: comic or comical?
comic vs comical
Comical often suggests something is funny because it is odd or absurd, while comic usually means deliberately funny.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'comic' correctly as an adjective?
Choose one answer.
'Comic' as an adjective means funny and intended to amuse, as in 'a comic story'. The other options use 'comic' as a noun meaning a magazine or book.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “comic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.