slapstick

[slap-stik]

noun

1. broad comedy characterized by boisterous action, as the throwing of pies in actors' faces, mugging, and obvious farcical situations and jokes.

2. a stick or lath used by harlequins, clowns, etc., as in pantomime, for striking other performers, especially a combination of laths that make a loud, clapping noise without hurting the person struck.

adjective

1. using, or marked by the use of, broad farce and horseplay.

   a slapstick motion picture.

slapstick

/ ˈslæpˌstɪk /

noun

1. 1. comedy characterized by horseplay and physical action

   2. ( as modifier )

      slapstick humour

2. a flexible pair of paddles bound together at one end, formerly used in pantomime to strike a blow to a person with a loud clapping sound but without injury

Word History and Origins

Origin of slapstick¹

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900; slap ¹ + stick ¹

Example Sentences

For a defence that had conceded six in Europe during the week and had given up multiple opportunities via slapstick moments in domestic football, this was welcome respite.

From BBC

The incident has fueled a storm of late-summer ridicule, with memes ricocheting across social media and commentators pointing to the almost slapstick nature of the scandal.

From Salon

“Long Story Short,” premiering Friday on Netflix, is the sweet, melancholy, satirical, silly, poignant, hopeful, sometimes slapstick cartoon tale of a middle-class Jewish family, told nonchronologically from the 1990s to the 2020s.

From Los Angeles Times

Could Rangers afford to give up so many chances to Brugge, a club that has sold around £70m worth of talent this summer but an outfit that retains enough slick operators to punish slapstick defending?

From BBC

Given that pain and loss are inherent to the story, Williams also was grateful for the project’s “unstoppable sense of humor,” where absurdism and slapstick sit effortlessly alongside fear and grief.

From Los Angeles Times