ENGLISH
REFERENCE

comedy of errors

idiom
Meaning

A series of amusing or farcical events involving awkward missteps or other mistakes.


Origin

first recorded 16th c. disputed origin

From comedy + of + errors, probably coined by the English playwright William Shakespeare (c. 1564 – 1616) as the title of the play The Comedy of Errors (written c. 1594; published 1623), about two sets of identical twins separated at birth who are involved in a series of mistaken identities.

Examples
SIMPLE

Our vacation was a comedy of errors from start to finish.

CONTEXTUAL

Between the lost luggage and the wrong hotel booking, our trip turned into a complete comedy of errors.

COMPLEX

The entire wedding ceremony became a comedy of errors when the rings went missing and the officiant arrived at the wrong venue.

Anchors to
Related idioms1entry
  1. 01

    comedy gold

    Something that is very funny or humorous.

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