anticomedy

A1N1T1I1C3O1M3E1D2Y4

noun

A form of comedy that deliberately avoids the typical conventions of comedy.

OriginEnglish comedy ← Middle English comedie ← Middle French comedie →
Scrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounanticomedy (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA form of comedy that deliberately avoids the typical conventions of comedy.

    In the usual comedic parlance, “anticomedy” is a self-aware performance that mines laughs from its utter lack of conventional punch lines.

    2019, Ken Jennings, chapter 8, in Planet Funny: How Comedy Ruined Everything, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 186

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énti
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓ντῐ́ (ăntĭ́)
  5. Ancient Greekἀντι- (anti-)
  6. Englishanti-
  7. Ancient Greekκῶμος (kômos)
  8. Proto-Hellenic*awéidō
  9. Ancient Greekᾰ̓είδω (ăeídō)
  10. Ancient Greekᾰ̓οιδή (ăoidḗ)
  11. Ancient Greekᾠδή (ōidḗ)
  12. Ancient Greekκῶμος (kômos)
  13. Ancient Greekἀείδω (aeídō)
  14. Ancient Greekἀοιδός (aoidós)
  15. Ancient Greekκωμῳδῐ́ᾱ (kōmōidĭ́ā)
  16. Latincōmoedia
  17. Middle Frenchcomedie
  18. Middle Englishcomedie
  19. Englishcomedy
  20. Englishanticomedy

From anti- + comedy.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

anticomedy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anticomedy

MLA

“anticomedy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anticomedy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anticomedy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anticomedy.

Source: anticomedy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.