n.
- a comic dramatic work or genre using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including ludicrously improbable situations.
- an absurd event:
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the debate turned into a drunken farce.
History
The word farce has undergone a surprising change in meaning since it entered English in the 15th century. Coming from the French verb farcir ‘to stuff’, ultimately from Latin farcire, it was used to signify ‘stuffing’ or ‘forcemeat’. This sense became used metaphorically for comic interludes ‘stuffed’ into the texts of religious plays, and from this the current meaning developed. The word forcemeat comes from the same root, its spelling showing the influence of the verb force.
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