ha-ha

or ha·ha, ha ha

[ hah-hah, hah-hah ]

See synonyms for ha-ha on Thesaurus.com

interjection, noun

(used as an exclamation or representation of laughter, as in expressing amusement or derision.)

Origin of ha-ha

before 1000; Middle English, Old English; of imitative origin

Compare haw-haw.

Words Nearby ha-ha

Other definitions for ha-ha (2 of 2)

ha-ha²

[ hah-hah ]

noun

sunk fence.

Origin of ha-ha

1705–15; <French haha repetitive compound based on ha! exclamation of surprise

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ha-ha in a sentence

From just outside the main door a distinct “ha-ha-ha” echoed up and down the concourse.
Inside a Hospital for the Criminally Insane | Caitlin Dickson | September 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Lonard thinks ha-ha-ha and tells Bantam that the rights have reverted to him, which they have.
Elmore Leonard’s Rocky Road to Fame and Fortune | Mike Lupica | September 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Mom, fortunately, is past the point of asking “Funny ‘ha-ha’ or funny ‘odd’?”
My Reverse-Cyrano Moment Wooing the Supreme Court | P. J. O’Rourke | March 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Is Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (which won the Mann Booker Prize in 1993) the only one of your novels that stands on its own?
The Prodigious Roddy Doyle Is the Celtic Tiger of Irish Literature | Allen Barra | March 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
It was late at night, but I heard—ha-ha-ha—a little laughing.
Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview | Alex Belth | February 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

ha-ha-have my head sha-a-ved, dress myself up li-like a Turk?
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks | Bracebridge Hemyng
Madame Bill near fell off her chair with surprise, and began ha-ha-ing melodious.
The Belted Seas | Arthur Colton
The ha-ha consists of a trench, the inner side of which is perpendicular and faced with a wall; the outer being sloped and turfed.
Journal and Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian: A Plantation Tutor of the Old Dominion, 1773-1774. | Philip Vickers Fithian
The kiddies werent impressed, but the parrot yelled and ha-ha-ed and enjoyed himself a whole lot.
Marjorie Dean College Freshman | Pauline Lester
All the girls in the floor were there we nearly split trying to keep from giving him the ha-ha.
The Dwelling Place of Light, Complete | Winston Churchill

British Dictionary definitions for ha-ha (1 of 2)

ha-ha¹

haw-haw

/ (ˈhɑː ˈhɑː) /

interjection

a representation of the sound of laughter
an exclamation expressing derision, mockery, surprise, etc

British Dictionary definitions for ha-ha (2 of 2)

ha-ha²

haw-haw

/ (ˈhɑː hɑː) /

noun

a wall or other boundary marker that is set in a ditch so as not to interrupt the landscape

Origin of ha-ha

C18: from French haha, probably based on ha! ejaculation denoting surprise

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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