funny

1 of 2

adjective

fun·​ny ˈfə-nē 

funnier; funniest

1

a

: affording light mirth and laughter : amusing

His account of the war came in bits and pieces, sometimes bloody, sometimes funny.

—Robert Penn Warren

b

: seeking or intended to amuse : facetious

Don't take him so seriously; he was just being funny.

2

: differing from the ordinary in a suspicious, perplexing, quaint, or eccentric way : peculiar

My car has been making a funny noise.

—often used as a sentence modifier

Funny, things didn't turn out the way we planned.

3

: involving trickery or deception

told his prisoner not to try anything funny

funnily

ˈfə-nə-lē 

adverb

funniness

ˈfə-nē-nəs 

noun

funny adverb

funny

2 of 2

noun

plural funnies ˈfə-nēz 

1

: one that is funny

especially : joke

2

funnies plural : comic strips or the comic section of a periodical

—usually used with the

Synonyms

Adjective

• antic
• chucklesome
• comedic
• comic
• comical
• droll
• farcical
• hilarious
• humoristic
• humorous
• hysterical
• hysteric
• killing
• laughable
• ludicrous
• ridiculous
• riotous
• risible
• screaming
• sidesplitting
• uproarious

Noun

• cartoon
• comic
• comic strip
• strip

Examples of funny in a Sentence

Adjective

He told a funny story.

He's a very funny guy.

What are you laughing at? There's nothing funny about it.

There's something funny going on here.

She has some funny ideas about how to run a company.

“I can't find my keys.” “That's funny—they were here a minute ago.”

My car has been making a funny noise lately.

A funny thing happened to me the other day.

It feels funny to be back here again.

It's funny that you should say that—I was just thinking the same thing myself.

Noun

reading the Sunday funnies is part of my weekend ritual

let's can the funnies—we've got serious work to do here

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

What’s funny about that is that Alexander appears to have some Leonard Williams to his game. —Charlotte Carroll, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2025

Not lying and not funny, but not to be ignored either. —Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025

Noun

Star Toomey Age: 28 Hometown: Monrovia, Liberia Current residence: Augusta, Ga. Occupation: Sales expert Three words to describe you: Hilarious, smooth, laugh-out-loud funny. —Dalton Ross, EW.com, 29 Jan. 2025

The Ukrainians have knocked out at least two BTR-D funnies since November. —David Axe, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1739, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

1852, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing funny

• funny bone
• funny book
• funny business
• funny car
• funny farm
• funny money
• funny paper
• the funny farm

Rhymes for funny

• bunny
• gunny
• honey
• money
• runny
• sonny
• sunny
• tunny

Video

Fun, Funner, Funnest

Why does it sound strange to say 'funner' or 'funnest?'

Kids Definition

funny

1 of 2 adjective

fun·​ny ˈfən-ē 

funnier; funniest

1

: causing or intended to cause laughter

a funny story

2

: different from ordinary in a way that is odd, curious, or suspicious

it's funny you should ask

that's funny—they were here yesterday

there's something funny going on

3

: involving trickery

don't try anything funny

funnily

ˈfən-ᵊl-ē 

adverb

funniness

ˈfən-ē-nəs 

noun

funny adverb

funny

2 of 2 noun

plural funnies

1

: one that is funny

especially : joke entry 1 sense 1

2

plural : comic strips or the comic section of a newspaper

—usually used with the