farsa

farce

noun FAHR-sah Rare

Origin: From Old French 'farce' (stuffing), applied to comic theatrical interludes stuffed between serious scenes.

Also means

sham

Usage Note

Farsa means both a farcical theatrical genre and, more commonly in modern usage, any situation that is a hollow pretence or mockery: el juicio fue una farsa ('the trial was a sham'). The person who performs or engineers a farce is a farsante, which also means 'fraud' or 'phoney' in everyday speech.

Examples

"La negociación resultó ser una farsa."

Natural Translation

The negotiation turned out to be a sham.

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