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
- hilariously adverb
- hilariousness noun
- hyperhilarious adjective
- hyperhilariously adverb
- hyperhilariousness noun
- unhilarious adjective
- unhilariously adverb
- unhilariousness noun
Etymology
Origin of hilarious
1815–25; < Latin hilar ( is ), hilar ( us ) cheerful (< Greek hilarós ) + -ious
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.
"I'll be a bit clumsy up there -- so I know that's going to be hilarious and annoying at the same time."
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
The current “Comeback” storyline is the brighter side of the “AI Doc” coin in that Al’s glitches are surreal and hilarious at worst.
From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026
Its stitched-together scenes—frat pledge party, dining hall food fight, toga party, horse in Dean Wormer’s office, homecoming parade—were individually hilarious and held together only by the individual characters.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026
"Obviously I give my own spin on things, I am always really inspired by Regina and Rachel McAdams' version of Regina, I just think she is extremely iconic and hilarious."
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
The So-Called Gym Teacher thought it was hilarious.
From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
