slapstick

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   Comedy based on rough physical action, such as falling over, pie fights and people being hit or tripped.

   Grammar: Uncountable: a lot of slapstick, not a slapstick.

   Patterns

   • a mixture of slapstick and something
   • full of slapstick

   The film is mostly slapstick, with plenty of banana peels and pies in faces.

   Early silent comedians were masters of slapstick.

   Children love slapstick because the jokes need no explaining.

2. 2adjectivebefore a noun

   Using or relating to rough, noisy physical comedy.

   Grammar: Comes before a noun: a slapstick routine.

   Patterns

   • slapstick comedy
   • a slapstick routine

   The show's slapstick humor made the whole family laugh.

   He gave a slapstick performance that involved a collapsing ladder.

   The movie moves from quiet drama to a slapstick chase scene.

Common combinations

slapstick comedy

They watched an old slapstick comedy on Sunday.

slapstick humor

The play relies on slapstick humor.

slapstick routine

The clowns did a slapstick routine with buckets of water.

pure slapstick

The final scene is pure slapstick.

physical slapstick

The actor is known for his physical slapstick.

Synonyms and how they differ

farce

A farce uses a ridiculous plot with mistaken identities, whereas slapstick focuses on rough physical gags.

burlesque

Mocks or exaggerates a serious subject for laughs, and is not mainly about physical knockabout.

horseplay

Rough, playful behavior in real life, while slapstick is a style of staged comedy.

Opposites

Word family

slap verb

to hit with a flat hand

stick noun

the original prop, a paddle that made a loud noise

slapstick comedian noun

a performer who specializes in this type of comedy

Commonly confused: slapstick or satire?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “slapstick”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words