comic relief


noun
  1. an amusing scene, incident, or speech introduced into serious or tragic elements, as in a play, in order to provide temporary relief from tension, or to intensify the dramatic action.

  2. relief from tension caused by the introduction or occurrence of a comic element, as by an amusing human foible.

Origin of comic relief

1
First recorded in 1815–25

Words Nearby comic relief

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use comic relief in a sentence