funny

¹

[fuhn-ee]

adjective

funnier, funniest 

1. providing fun; causing amusement or laughter; amusing; comical.

   a funny remark;

   a funny person.

   Synonyms: humorous, facetious, witty, droll, ridiculous, farcical, comic, diverting

2. attempting to amuse; facetious.

   Did you really mean that or were you just being funny?

3. warranting suspicion; deceitful; underhanded.

   We thought there was something funny about those extra charges.

4. Informal.,  insolent; impertinent.

   Don't get funny with me, young man!

5. curious; strange; peculiar; odd.

   Her speech has a funny twang.

noun

plural

funnies 

1. Informal.,  a funny remark or story; a joke.

   to make a funny.

2. funnies,

   1. comic strips.

   2. Also called funny paper. the section of a newspaper reserved for comic strips, word games, etc.

funny

²

[fuhn-ee]

noun

plural

funnies 

1. a shell or light skiff rowed by one person with sculls.

funny

/ ˈfʌnɪ /

adjective

1. causing amusement or laughter; humorous; comical

2. peculiar; odd

3. suspicious or dubious (esp in the phrase funny business )

4. informal,  faint or ill

   to feel funny

noun

1. informal,  a joke or witticism

Other Word Forms

• funniness noun
• funnily adverb
• unfunnily adverb
• unfunniness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of funny¹

First recorded in 1730–40; fun + -y ¹

Origin of funny²

First recorded in 1780–90; perhaps jocular use of funny ¹

Idioms and Phrases

• fun

Synonym Study

Funny, laughable, ludicrous refer to that which excites laughter. Funny and laughable are both applied to that which provokes laughter or deserves to be laughed at; funny is a colloquial term loosely applied and in popular use is commonly interchangeable with the other terms: a funny story, scene, joke; a laughable incident, mistake. That which is ludicrous excites laughter by its incongruity and foolish absurdity: The monkey's attempts to imitate the woman were ludicrous.

Example Sentences

And sometimes you can see with specials where you’re like, ‘yeah, if this person had maybe three more months, it would have been funnier.’

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Sometimes you go broke and tell your funny story about the importance of due diligence to young investors.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Yet what is being marketed as a funny caper grows increasingly bleak.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In both word and stylized illustration, the 88 animals featured here are made to seem more funny than threatening.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Instantly the movie—about a boy who accidentally travels back in time in a now-iconic DeLorean and must find his way back to the present—was what it was meant to be: funny.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• absurd 
• amusing 
• droll 
• entertaining 
• hilarious 
• ludicrous 
• playful 
• ridiculous 
• silly 
• whimsical 

When To Use

What is a basic definition of funny?

Funny describes something that causes fun, especially laughter. Funny can describe someone who is trying to amuse others. It can also describe someone or something that is suspicious or odd. Funny has a few other senses as an adjective and a noun.Funny describes something that is amusing and causes people to laugh. Something that amuses people without causing laughter is usually said to be fun rather than funny. For example, a roller coaster would be called fun, while a knock-knock joke would be called funny. If something is not funny, it is unfunny.Real-life examples: Many people consider clowns, jokes, comedies, pranks, and Internet memes to be funny. These things cause most people to laugh.Used in a sentence: The comedian knew a lot of funny jokes. Funny also describes someone who is trying to get others to laugh or is trying to amuse them. This sense of funny is a synonym of facetious.Used in a sentence: Joan took the comment as an insult even though Luke was just trying to be funny. Funny also describes someone or something that is suspicious or underhanded. You might use this sense when you think something dishonest is going on. The phrase funny business is used in this sense to refer to criminal or unethical activity.Real-life examples: Rigged carnival games, overly friendly salespeople, and deals that seem too good to be true often cause people to think something funny is going on.Used in a sentence: We think something funny is going on at that store on the corner that is never open.Funny can also describe something that is strange, odd, or curious.Real-life examples: If your leg falls asleep, you will probably walk funny. Two tomatoes that grow together to make one tomato might have a funny shape.Used in a sentence: I think the speakers might be broken because the music sounds funny.