laughingstock

[ laf-ing-stok, lah-fing- ]

/ ˈlæf ɪŋˌstɒk, ˈlɑ fɪŋ- /

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See synonyms for laughingstock on Thesaurus.com

noun

an object of ridicule; the butt of a joke or the like: His ineptness as a public official made him the laughingstock of the whole town.

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Origin of laughingstock

First recorded in 1525–35; laughing + stock

Words nearby laughingstock

laughing gas, laughing gull, laughing hyena, laughing jackass, laughing matter, laughingstock, Laughlin, Laughlin Air Force Base, laugh line, laugh off, laugh one's head off

How to use laughingstock in a sentence

While the country’s overall Olympic team has been either an afterthought or a laughingstock for much of its history, it was also an untouchable standard-bearer of one of the Games’ most iconic sports.
India’s Olympic Struggles Aren’t New, But It’s Making A Comeback In One Important Sport|Santul Nerkar (santul.nerkar@abc.com)|August 6, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
He knows he’s likely to become the laughingstock of the sports world.
Ted Lasso and TV's Strange Quest to Build the Perfect Man|Judy Berman|July 19, 2021|Time
Unprepared, and a laughingstock because of his handicap, Yarvi is bullied on every front—even by his mother.
A Fantasy Titan Invades the YA Kingdom|William O’Connor|July 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Democrats, on the other hand, started out as a laughingstock.
Speed Read: Kenneth Vogel’s ‘Big Money’ Shows How PACs Control Politics|William O’Connor|June 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Then, the self-proclaimed “hip-hop conservative” got busted buying cocaine and became a national laughingstock.
Rob Ford and the Sleaziest Pols of the Year|Ben Jacobs|December 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This past week, they did something even worse than harmful: They made real-world conservatives a national laughingstock.
Conservative Post-Truth Journalism Harms Conservatism|David Frum|February 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
When they were last in charge in 2008-2010, the legislature was a national laughingstock, even by New York standards.
Liberals Slam Andrew Cuomo’s Deals With New York GOP|David Freedlander|December 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST
An Indian whom Catlin painted with half his face in shadow became the laughingstock of the tribe, as "the man with half a face."
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 13, No. 76, February, 1864|Various
Our Cellerarius a cipher; the very Townsfolk know it: subsannatio et derisio sumus, we have become a laughingstock to mankind.
Past and Present|Thomas Carlyle
To me he is the man who made a laughingstock of me in a censorious little town by calling me "a woman of doubtful reputation."
Three Comedies|Bjrnstjerne M. Bjrnson
If they try to dump me to-night I'm going to fool them and I'm going to fix it so that they'll be the laughingstock of the corps.
On Guard|Upton Sinclair
You're famous, besides, as the boldest plebe that ever came here; the yearlings are the laughingstock of the place because of you.
On Guard|Upton Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for laughingstock

laughing stock