mizahi

Mizahi is a term used in Indonesian and Malay to describe humor that relies on wit, irony, wordplay, or satire. As an adjective, mizahi characterizes content designed to amuse through clever linguistic or conceptual devices. The related noun mizah denotes humor in a broad sense. The term is borrowed from Arabic mizāḥ (mizaḥ), meaning jest or joking, and arrived in Malay and Indonesian through historical contacts with Arabic- and Turkish-language literatures.

In literary and media criticism, mizahi is used to classify works whose primary effect is humorous, with an emphasis on social observation rather than physical comedy. Mizahi humor often employs satire, irony, parody, and verbal play to illuminate everyday life, power structures, or cultural norms. It can appear in poetry, prose, cartoons, film, or television.

Compared with komedi, which covers broader forms of comedy and may emphasize slapstick, mizahi connotes a more refined, ironic, or satirical approach. The term overlaps with general humor and parody but remains distinct when the rhetorical goal is critique or insight rather than mere amusement. In contemporary Indonesian usage, mizahi remains a descriptive label used by critics, scholars, and media producers to signal the tonal and argumentative strategy of a work.

Related topics include humor, satire, parody, and comedy within Southeast Asian and broader Malay-language literatures and media.