Pronunciations (2)
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/ˌkɒmɪdi əv ˈɛɹəz/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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/ˌkɑmədi əv ˈɛɹəɹz/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
Noun
A comedy in which the humour is due to misinterpretations, mistaken identity, etc.
Usage- also
- Related words
- Examples
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[I]n ſome comedyes of Errors, […] the Miſtres and the Maide change habits […]
More examples (3)
VVhat Comedies of errors ſvvell the ſtage / VVith your moſt publike vices, vvhen the age / Dares perſonate in action, for, your eies / Ranke Sceanes of your luſt-ſvveating qualities: […]
[S]uch a comedy of errors, brought about by back doors, private ſtair-caſes, and falſe keys, might pleaſe the romantic taſte of the Spaniards, but vvill never bear the teſt of Engliſh criticiſm.
'The Comedy of Humours' would have been a suitable name for it [William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (written 1595 or 1596)], as a companion piece to 'The Comedy of Errors'; for it is just a comedy of errors, with the element of humours or fancies added.
A series of amusing or farcical events involving awkward missteps or other mistakes.
Usage- broadly
- idiomatic
- Examples
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More examples (1)
It ſhall not be amiſſe (for him that vvill read) firſt to beholde this ſhort Comedy of Errors, and vvhere the greateſt enter, to giue them inſtead of a hiſſe, a gentle correction.
I think I have seen such comedies of errors going on in the world.
More examples (1)
[I]t's the poor Le Bretons who have brought us two thus together. And yet, they were both once our dearest rivals. You were in love with Edie Le Breton: I was half in love with Ernest Le Breton: and now—why, now, Arthur, I do believe we're both utterly in love with one another. What a curious little comedy of errors!
By that time those who had remained so long began to view the game as what it really was, a comedy of errors, and got lots of fun out of it.
More examples (5)
Reference to Flamborough brings to mind an amusing comedy of errors, which although not strictly a matter of station-naming, at least concerns station names. The actual name was Marton for Flamborough, and, by some error, it appeared in Bradshaw, at the end of 1858, as Marton from Flamborough. After two or three months, this was evidently noticed, and instructions given to correct it, but unfortunately the correction appeared as Marton or Flamborough, which remained undetected for several months more.
What follows is a painful comedy of errors. Almost from her arrival she is pursued by a bellhop who interprets her every rebuff as a coy invitation.
Though Lalita and Darcy's budding romance nearly falls prey to assumptions, back-biting gossip, and various coincidences and comedies of errors, pride and prejudice are both overcome so that love may conquer all in the end.
Initially, despite this comedy of errors by the Italian command structure, the battle seemed to be going badly for the Austrians.
In what can only be described as a comedy of errors, an Argentinian TV news channel delivered a stunning, if slightly flawed, scoop on Thursday night when it reported that William Shakespeare, "one of the most important writers in the English language" had died five months after receiving the Covid vaccine.