comedy of manners
noun phrase
: comedy that satirically portrays the manners and fashions of a particular class or set
Examples of comedy of manners in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
With its hard shadows and rudimentary staging, the film plays like a crude rough draft of the much richer career that followed, rounding up his troupe at the time for a semi-sophisticated comedy of manners.
—
Scott Tobias, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025
This 12-season HBO gem was more than just a laugh-out-loud comedy of manners, satirizing Larry David's life as a veteran TV writer/curmudgeon.
—Debby Wolfinsohn, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Oct. 2025
Funny and poignant in equal measure, the comedy of manners does sag here and there, with a noticeable energy dip around the two-thirds mark.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Jan. 2025
The modern retelling of the comedy of manners, starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Youn Yuh-jung, Joan Chen and Han Gi-chan, premieres at Sundance Film Festival on Monday.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 27 Jan. 2025
This is a political drama and a thriller and a comedy of manners and a rom-com.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2024
Lots more followed in the novel after that, The Spell (1998), a stylish but ultimately failed attempt at a comedy of manners about four men who mostly just drink too much, do some drugs, and tumble into bed with one another.
—Charles McGrath, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2024
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Scott Tobias, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025
This 12-season HBO gem was more than just a laugh-out-loud comedy of manners, satirizing Larry David's life as a veteran TV writer/curmudgeon.
—Debby Wolfinsohn, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Oct. 2025
Funny and poignant in equal measure, the comedy of manners does sag here and there, with a noticeable energy dip around the two-thirds mark.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Jan. 2025
The modern retelling of the comedy of manners, starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Youn Yuh-jung, Joan Chen and Han Gi-chan, premieres at Sundance Film Festival on Monday.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 27 Jan. 2025
This is a political drama and a thriller and a comedy of manners and a rom-com.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2024
Lots more followed in the novel after that, The Spell (1998), a stylish but ultimately failed attempt at a comedy of manners about four men who mostly just drink too much, do some drugs, and tumble into bed with one another.
—Charles McGrath, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Comedy of manners.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comedy%20of%20manners. Accessed 18 Dec. 2025.
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