laughingstock

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

noun

1. 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of laughingstock¹

First recorded in 1525–35; laughing + stock

Example Sentences

Indiana and Vanderbilt Derangement Syndrome: This is really driving everyone nuts, that these two former college football laughingstocks are atop the sport and not in the basement where they’re supposed to be.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The backlash makes her a laughingstock and scuttles her career.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

And Isaac’s lack of an appropriate neck accessory made him the laughingstock of a dinner party at John Jay’s house the night they were meant to sign the Declaration of Independence.

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Moreover, she was neither a pitiful fool nor a mere laughingstock.

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Last year at this time, Oakland was baseball’s laughingstock, but although there’s still plenty of turmoil surrounding the Athletics’ planned moves to Sacramento and Las Vegas, their on-field performance hasn’t been too bad.

Read more on Seattle Times

Related Words

• object of ridicule www.thesaurus.com