slapstick
noun
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The idea that knocking people about made for good comedy dates as far back as the Greco-Roman theater, where clowns rambunctiously "attacked" one another onstage. The object from which the word slapstick derives, however, was invented in Italy in the 16th century. Renaissance comedy typically featured stock characters placed in ridiculous situations, and one such ubiquitous character was Harlequin, whose brilliant costuming made him easily recognizable. Harlequin was given to wielding a paddle which was designed to make a terrible noise when he hit someone, usually to the delight of the audience. This paddle was eventually known in English as a "slapstick," and it became a symbol of that type of highly physical comedy. The word slapstick then came to refer to the comedy itself.
Examples of slapstick in a Sentence
Emily Blackwood, People.com, 6 May 2025
With hyperpop-ish glee, Barbie veered between musical, slapstick comedy, and melodrama.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 5 May 2025
All of the characters in the film — a slapstick comedy set in an incompetent restaurant — were animals with human attributes.
—Michael Paulson, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2025
An undertow of sadness churns beneath the slapstick, a combination that inescapably brings to mind Karen Russell, whose 2011 Swamplandia!
—Sam Worley, Vulture, 18 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slapstick
Cite this Entry
“Slapstick.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slapstick. Accessed 14 May. 2025.
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