risibility

[ riz-uh-bil-i-tee ]

/ ˌrɪz əˈbɪl ɪ ti /

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noun, plural ris·i·bil·i·ties.

Often risibilities. the ability or disposition to laugh; humorous awareness of the ridiculous and absurd.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of risibility

From the Late Latin word rīsibilitās, dating back to 1610–20. See risible, -ity

Words nearby risibility

rise through the ranks, rise to, rise to the bait, rise to the occasion, rishi, risibility, risible, rising, rising action, rising damp, rising diphthong

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use risibility in a sentence

His light-heartedness and risibility were often assumed to hide bitter resentment or boiling indignation.
The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the first|Count Carlo Gozzi
And they were soon joined by Sir Sedley Clarendel, whose quaint conceits and remarks assisted the risibility of the scene.
Camilla|Fanny Burney
My "caubeen" especially excited the risibility of the merry boys who thronged the streets.
The Felon's Track|Michael Doheny
A passage which I can refer only to the erudition and risibility of our modern surgeons and anatomists.
Gilbertus Anglicus|Henry Ebenezer Handerson

I was noted, among my comrades, and not always to my advantage, for my absolutely ungovernable risibility.
Recollections Of My Childhood And Youth|George Brandes

British Dictionary definitions for risibility

risibility

/ (ˌrɪzɪˈbɪlɪtɪ) /

noun plural -ties

a tendency to laugh

hilarity; laughter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012