What does farcical mean?
Word: Farcical
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Farcical means so silly or so badly organised that it becomes laughable.
Synonyms: ridiculous
How do you spell farcical?
Syllables: far - ci - cal
Tricky part: The soft s sound after far is written with a c. Farsical is the usual slip.
Watch out for: farsical, farscical
Memory tip: Think of a muddled day at the circus: the soft c that opens circus is the one you want here.
Farcical in a sentence
Example 1: The quiz became farcical when the buzzer went off by itself every few seconds.
Example 2: With the umpires at the wrong ground, the whole fixture was farcical.
Example 3: It was a farcical end to the rehearsal: the fan blew away everybody's scripts.
Fun Fact
The parent word, farce, comes from a French word for stuffing, because short comic pieces were once stuffed in between the parts of longer plays.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
farc_c_l
a) i, a
b) a, a
c) e, a
d) i, e
Show answer
a) i, a. The vowel after the first c is an i, and the word closes with the -al that many adjectives use.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters to find the word that fits the sentence:
The match grew cilafrac when both teams turned up in the same colour shirts.
a) farcical
b) practical
c) radical
d) tactical
Show answer
a) farcical. Only one option has an f; the other three lack it and bring in letters such as p, t or d.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word farcical as used in the sentence:
The school play turned farcical when the curtain stuck halfway and the cast lost their lines.
a) preposterous
b) ludicrous
c) absurd
d) serious
Show answer
d) serious. A serious play keeps its dignity, and this one has just lost it.
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are spelt correctly and one is misspelt. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. pantomime 2. comedien 3. farcical 4. slapstick
a) comedy built on falls and silly actions
b) a person whose job is making people laugh
c) a family show based on a fairy tale
d) silly in a way that makes people laugh
Show answer
b) a person whose job is making people laugh. Comedian ends in ian, like librarian.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. An event likely to be called farcical is ____.
a) a short, clear talk on road safety
b) a calm and orderly morning assembly
c) a well-planned trip to the science museum
d) a prize day when nobody can find the prizes
Show answer
d) a prize day when nobody can find the prizes
2. A friend calls the class election farcical. What does she think of it?
a) it was long but quite useful
b) it was strict and very formal
c) it was fair and well organised
d) it was a comic muddle throughout
Show answer
d) it was a comic muddle throughout
