Meaning & use
farceur
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Meanings
nouncountableformal
A person who writes or acts in farce, which is comedy built on absurd situations and slapstick.
Grammar: Countable: a farceur, two farceurs.
Patterns
- a farceur of something
The playwright was a gifted farceur whose doors never stopped slamming.
Critics hailed the actor as the finest farceur of his generation.
As a farceur, she knew exactly when to speed up the chaos.
nouncountablehumorousliterary
A person who enjoys playing practical jokes or behaving in a clowning, mischievous way.
Grammar: Countable and slightly teasing: our uncle is a born farceur.
Patterns
- a born farceur
Our uncle is a born farceur and hid a rubber spider in the salad.
The farceur in the office changed all the clocks by five minutes.
He played the farceur at dinner to cheer everyone up.
Word forms
| plural | farceurs |
|---|
Common combinations
- a gifted farceur
- He was a gifted farceur on stage.
- a born farceur
- She is a born farceur and loves mischief.
- master farceur
- The master farceur directed three comedies that year.
- stage farceur
- The stage farceur drew roars from the audience.
Synonyms and how they differ
- comedian
- is general for any comic performer, while a farceur specializes in absurd, fast-moving situations.
- joker
- is informal and focuses on telling jokes, not on writing or acting in farce.
- clown
- emphasizes physical silliness and can be critical, whereas farceur is a more respectful literary word.
- prankster
- concentrates on playing tricks on people rather than performing comedy.
Word family
Commonly confused: farceur or farce?
farceur vs farce
A farce is the type of comedy or an absurd situation; a farceur is the person who writes or performs it.
Practice
Which person is best described as a farceur?
Choose one answer.
A farceur makes or performs farce, which is absurd comedy. The other options do not involve comedy.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “farceur”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.