“To Menander the Commicke gowne of Afphranus was fit.” (The references are to two comic playwrights-Menander in ancient Greece and Lucius Afranius in Rome.)Īnd here’s the dictionary’s most recent example for this sense of the word: “The comic playwrights seeking to follow Plato had to come to terms with Aristophanes whether they wanted to or not.” (From Martin Puchner’s book The Drama of Ideas, 2010.)Īs for “comic” in the sense of funny or amusing, the earliest example in the OED is from the early 17th century: The earliest known example of the adjective used in this sense is from a 1567 translation of Horace’s Ars Poetica ( The Art of Poetry): Greek or Roman classical comedy) as a literary or dramatic genre.” It was first recorded in English writing, the OED says, in the sense “of, relating to, or of the nature of comedy (esp. The definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary, an etymological dictionary based on historical evidence, are similar, though those for “comic” go into much more detail. “Comedic” is defined solely as “of or relating to comedy.” But “comic” is defined as both “characteristic of or having to do with comedy” and “amusing humorous.” The definitions in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.) are typical: (Two of the British dictionaries- Longman and Macmillan-have no entries at all for “comedic.”)
The standard American dictionaries, and most British ones, recognize this distinction.
So writers who use “comedic” to mean funny-as in “several comedic moments” or “a comedic facial expression”-are misusing the word. Most dictionaries define it as having to do with comedy.īut “comic” means that and something more-funny.įor example, you could use either word here: “He prefers comic roles to tragic ones” … “Satire is just one element in the comic genre.”īut only “comic” will do when you’re talking about something that makes you laugh: “The feud stemmed from a comic misunderstanding” … “The dog provided comic relief.” Of the two adjectives, “comedic” has a narrower meaning. But it can usually be replaced by “comic,” a simpler and less academic-sounding term. Your mission, should you choose to accept it!Ī: We won’t go so far as to say that “comedic” is unnecessary. I think it’s overused for “comic,” but has different connotations. Q: Last weekend a friend went on a rant about the unnecessary introduction of “comedic” into the English language.
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