ridiculous

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adjective ri·dic·u·lous \rÉ™-ˈdi-kyÉ™-lÉ™s\

: extremely silly or unreasonable

Full Definition of RIDICULOUS

:  arousing or deserving ridicule :  extremely silly or unreasonable :  absurd, preposterous

— ri·dic·u·lous·ly adverb

— ri·dic·u·lous·ness noun

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Examples of RIDICULOUS

1. She looks ridiculous in that outfit.
2. It was a ridiculous suggestion.
3. That's an absolutely ridiculous price for that sweater.
4. His band mates take the stage in ridiculous elf costumes—black tights, pointy felt hats. —Jason Cohen, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 1995
5. I also poked fun at those ridiculous fins on the '59 Cadillac. The '60, now, that was something else, and I've thought highly enough of the design to have owned two of them. —Marshall Schuon, New York Times, 30 June 1991
6. Take into account the artist's intention and choice of means. This sounds so elementary that it seems ridiculous to bring it up … —Leonardo Shapiro, Village Voice, 27 Aug. 1991
7. It was absurd for him to paint portraits for pay, and ridiculous to paint them for nothing; so he did not paint them at all. —William Dean Howells, The Rise of Silas Lapham, 1885

Origin of RIDICULOUS

Latin ridiculosus (from ridiculum jest, from neuter of ridiculus) or ridiculus, literally, laughable, from ridēre to laugh

First Known Use: 1550

Related to RIDICULOUS

Synonyms

absurd, cockamamy (or cockamamie), comical, derisive, derisory, farcical, laughable, ludicrous, pathetic, preposterous, risible, silly, for the birds

Antonyms

humorless, lame, unamusing, uncomic, unfunny, unhumorous, unhysterical

Related Words

asinine, brainless, dumb, fatuous, foolish, half-baked, half-witted, harebrained, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), inane, jerky, moronic, nonsensical, simpleminded, stupid, unwise, weak-minded, witless; balmy, cockeyed, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dotty, insane, kooky (also kookie), loony (also looney), lunatic, mad, nutty, screwball, senseless, wacky (also whacky); fantastic (also fantastical), far-fetched, inconceivable, incredible, unbelievable, unreal, unrealistic, unreasonable; illogical, irrational

Near Antonyms

earnest, serious, solemn; believable, conceivable, credible, logical, rational, realistic, reasonable, sensible

See Synonym Discussion at laughable

Rhymes with RIDICULOUS

meticulous, pediculous