hilarious
Americanadjective
-
arousing great merriment; extremely funny.
a hilarious story; a hilarious old movie.
-
boisterously merry or cheerful.
a hilarious celebration.
- Synonyms:
- high-spirited, rollicking, jolly, lively
-
merry; cheerful.
adjective
Usage
What does hilarious mean? Hilarious means extremely funny, like literally lol funny. Hilarious is most commonly used to describe someone or something (like a joke or a movie) as super funny. Much less commonly, it used to mean very merry or cheerful, as in a hilarious celebration. Example: The movie was absolutely hilarious—I was laughing so hard at one point that I was crying.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hilarious
1815–25; < Latin hilar ( is ), hilar ( us ) cheerful (< Greek hilarós ) + -ious
Explanation
One person can find a joke a little funny, while someone else might find it downright hilarious. When something is super-funny, it's hilarious. Hilarious is an adjective that describes a high degree of humor. Things that are funny can cause you to smile or giggle, but when something is hilarious, it causes you to laugh out loud. Of course, what's hilarious to me might not be to you. When I scribbled obscenities on your face while you were asleep? I found that totally hilarious. You? Not so much. Hilarious is also used sarcastically, when something isn't funny at all. Like when you woke up: you glared at me and said "Hilarious."
Vocabulary lists containing hilarious
"My Favorite Chaperone," Vocabulary from the short story
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "H"
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Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Walking to the ground in Bordeaux and what I find hilarious, in hindsight, is how low our expectations were."
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The miracle everyone pulls off is making a poisonous relationship dryly hilarious, even if every civilized exchange eventually becomes a figurative frying pan flying through the air.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Orson Welles observed that the duo’s combustible zaniness was so hilarious that it made you wet your pants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
“Gregg is so completely un-Hollywood,” Wilde recalls during a recent video call, “that even just having a coffee at this place deserved to be remarked upon in a really hilarious way.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
It’s hilarious to see him in khaki pants, a button-down shirt, and loafers instead of cargo shorts and high-tops.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
