1
as in joke
something said or done to cause laughter
the film's sophisticated drolleries will elicit smiles and chuckles even upon repeated viewings
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2
as in humor
the amusing quality or element in something
though generally serious, the novel about a seriously dysfunctional family is not without drollery
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Recent Examples of drollery
He is played by Ethan Hawke, a mainstay of Linklater’s movies, in a remarkable amalgam of bitterness, exuberance, drollery, tenderness, frustration, and tremendous artistic passion.
—
Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2025
Matthew Rankin’s latest surreal comedy, between hilarious drollery and bitter disillusionment.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
His ambition and synthetic public persona are the butt of countless withering drolleries.
—Giles Harvey, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
Griffin’s front-court mate DeAndre Jordan, although deeply intense, mirrored Griffin’s drollery in candid postgame interviews.
—Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 3 July 2024
But his method is mostly charging into the fray, shouting battle cries or tossing out Australian drollery.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 May 2024
The starry cast runs full force with his nesting-doll plots and deadpan drolleries, the color palette comes saturated in a Pantone riot of blues, pinks and egg-yolk yellows, and the tone flips nimbly from tender to absurd, more Dahl sweetness than arsenic.
—Leah Greenblatt, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
With LuPone’s perversely opportunistic Mrs. Lovett reviewing the prospective cannibalistic menu, his Sweeney perfectly complemented her cockeyed humor with his own savage drollery.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2023
Lapine’s book is marvelously inventive, full of elbow-nudging drollery and melancholy rumination.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2023
Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2025
Matthew Rankin’s latest surreal comedy, between hilarious drollery and bitter disillusionment.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
His ambition and synthetic public persona are the butt of countless withering drolleries.
—Giles Harvey, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
Griffin’s front-court mate DeAndre Jordan, although deeply intense, mirrored Griffin’s drollery in candid postgame interviews.
—Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 3 July 2024
But his method is mostly charging into the fray, shouting battle cries or tossing out Australian drollery.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 May 2024
The starry cast runs full force with his nesting-doll plots and deadpan drolleries, the color palette comes saturated in a Pantone riot of blues, pinks and egg-yolk yellows, and the tone flips nimbly from tender to absurd, more Dahl sweetness than arsenic.
—Leah Greenblatt, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
With LuPone’s perversely opportunistic Mrs. Lovett reviewing the prospective cannibalistic menu, his Sweeney perfectly complemented her cockeyed humor with his own savage drollery.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2023
Lapine’s book is marvelously inventive, full of elbow-nudging drollery and melancholy rumination.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drollery
Noun
-
After a joke about Adam Sandler’s fashion sense, O’Brien suddenly changed tone to address the devastation of the wildfires in Los Angeles, and how an awards show can seem self-indulgent if that context was not addressed.—
Annie Aguiar,
New York Times,
3 Mar. 2025
-
For the monologue, Gillis pushed his luck early, starting with some jokes about how hilarious Trump has been in office, and how former President Biden was also funny.—
Omar L. Gallaga,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
That also included the decision on saving O’Brien’s references to the fires until later in his monologue — and to add humor to the firefighters’ appearance during the broadcast.—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
3 Mar. 2025
-
O’Brien has a very specific brand of humor that mixes the bombastic and the surreal with a biting sharpness and a healthy dose of self depreciation.—
Rosa Escandon,
Forbes,
3 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Expect plenty of laughs, heartfelt moments, and unforgettable speeches as Hollywood's finest take the stage.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
2 Mar. 2025
-
In another corner, a woman and little girl shared a laugh.—
Michael Butler,
Miami Herald,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
And the final irony of it all is the speaker was right in the beginning.—
ABC NEWS,
ABC News,
27 Feb. 2025
-
But Stewart didn’t miss a beat, continuing to point out the irony of subsidies for wildly profitable companies whose workers don’t earn enough to live on.—
Theresa Braine,
New York Daily News,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The laminated menu taped to the wall was stocked with the usual cheap alcoholic concoctions, plus the occasional witticism and curiosity.—
Hannah Gold,
Harper's Magazine,
19 Feb. 2025
-
It’s often noted that TikTok played a major role in the online shift from text to video, changing the shape of memes, as the snappy, often-anonymous witticisms of Twitter were steadily replaced by intimate close-ups of TikTokers monologuing in their bedrooms.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes,
19 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
He will next be seen in the British comedy horror film The Scurry.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
7 Mar. 2025
-
And as their characters get pulled deeper into the criminal underworld, the comedy heightens in direct proportion to the violence.—
Joe Otterson,
Variety,
7 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Drollery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drollery. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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