hilarious

[hi-lair-ee-uhs, -lar-, hahy-]

adjective

1. arousing great merriment; extremely funny.

   a hilarious story; a hilarious old movie.

2. boisterously merry or cheerful.

   a hilarious celebration.

   Synonyms: high-spirited, rollicking, jolly, lively
   Antonyms: solemn, serious, sad

3. merry; cheerful.

hilarious

/ hɪˈlɛərɪəs /

adjective

1. very funny or merry

Other Word Forms

• hilariously adverb
• hilariousness noun
• hyperhilarious adjective
• hyperhilariously adverb
• hyperhilariousness noun
• unhilarious adjective
• unhilariously adverb
• unhilariousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hilarious¹

1815–25; < Latin hilar ( is ), hilar ( us ) cheerful (< Greek hilarós ) + -ious

Word History and Origins

Origin of hilarious¹

C19: from Latin hilaris glad, from Greek hilaros

Example Sentences

As a Midwestern transplant, I found this hilarious.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“It’s not New York but it’s ours,” Jackson says of the rural home, left to him by his uncle who died violently upstairs in a way that Grace finds hilarious.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

So it’s pretty hilarious how it involved no effort.

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Now for the truly hilarious part: U.S. banks get free intraday overdrafts from the Fed.

Read more on MarketWatch

The first series, which aired in 1975, failed to win huge audiences but, as it continued, its hilarious mix of absurd pratfalls and embarrassing situations grew in popularity.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• amusing 
• comical 
• entertaining 
• humorous 
• laughable 
• lively 
• priceless 
• uproarious 

When To Use

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.