laughable
Americanadjective
adjective
-
producing scorn; ludicrous
he offered me a laughable sum for the picture
-
arousing laughter
Synonym Usage
See funny 1.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of laughable
Explanation
If something is so absurd or ridiculous that it makes you laugh, you can call it laughable. Your little sister's idea of dropping out of elementary school and starting a full-time lemonade stand might seem laughable to you. Your friend's preposterous plan to live in a tree all summer is laughable, and a politician's proposal to build a wall around the entire country to keep immigrants out is laughable too. You can also use this adjective to simply mean "funny," or "provoking laughter." Laughable comes from laugh, which has an Old English root and was originally pronounced with a hard g sound. The pronunciation changed, but the spelling stayed the same.
Vocabulary lists containing laughable
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 5
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-able
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The Egypt Game
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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.
It’s laughable to think that such a blunt vote sends any kind of democratic signal one way or another about any particular policy.
From Slate • Jul. 7, 2026
Menon added that it would be "laughable" if any Palestine Action activist actually believed direct action would achieve the group's stated aim to "shut Elbit down".
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026
Considering the amount of comedy that was dropped on L.A. last week for the third Netflix is a Joke Festival, the idea that anyone can see it all is laughable.
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026
Lai “sneaked onto a foreign plane to ‘smuggle’ himself out of the island,” China’s Foreign Ministry said, “performing a laughable stunt in front of the world.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026
What was laughable was that poor Bunny should display concern about anyone else’s intellectual capacities.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
