farce

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French farce (“comic interlude in a mystery play”, literally “stuffing”). Doublet of farse.

noun

1. (uncountable) A style of humor marked by broad improbabilities with little regard to regularity or method.
2. (countable) A motion picture or play featuring this style of humor.
   The farce that we saw last night had us laughing and shaking our heads at the same time.
3. (uncountable) A situation abounding with ludicrous incidents.
   The first month of labor negotiations was a farce.
   The first match in the magnificent new national stadium was a Euro 2012 qualifier between Romania and France that soon descended into farce as the pitch cut up and players struggled to maintain their footing. Amorebieta at times seemed to be paying homage to that game, but nobody else seemed to have a problem; it was just that Falcao was far better than him. May 9, 2012, Jonathan Wilson, “Europa League: Radamel Falcao's Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao”, in the Guardian
4. (uncountable) A ridiculous or empty show.
   The political arena is a mere farce, with all sorts of fools trying to grab power.

Etymology 2

Verb from Middle English farcen, from Old French farsir, farcir, from Latin farciō (“to cram, stuff”). Doublet of farse.

verb

1. (transitive) To stuff with forcemeat or other food items.
   The lunch […] consisted […] of […] lobster mayonnaise, cold game sausages, an immense veal and ham pie farced with eggs, truffles, and numberless delicious flavours; besides kickshaws, creams and sweetmeats. 1923, Walter de la Mare, Seaton's Aunt
2. (transitive, figurative) To fill full; to stuff.
   The first principles of religion should not be farced with school points and private tenets. 1678, Robert Sanderson, Pax Ecclesiae
3. (transitive, obsolete) To make fat.
4. (transitive, obsolete) To swell out; to render pompous.
5. Alternative form of farse (“to insert vernacular paraphrases into (a Latin liturgy)”)

noun

1. (cooking) Forcemeat, stuffing.