laughingstock

American  

[laf-ing-stok, lah-fing-] / ˈlæf ɪŋˌstɒk, ˈlɑ fɪŋ- /

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.

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Etymology

Origin of laughingstock

First recorded in 1525–35; laughing + stock

Example Sentences

From a wooden shack atop the stadium, John Mellencamp has overseen the team’s transformation from laughingstock to No. 1.

From The Wall Street Journal

But on the gridiron, Indiana has mostly been a laughingstock without a single trip to the national championship game.

From The Wall Street Journal

Cohen’s arrival was supposed to signal the beginning of a new era for baseball’s perpetual laughingstock.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.

From The Wall Street Journal

The backlash makes her a laughingstock and scuttles her career.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• object of ridicule