funny

1 of 2

adjective

fun·ny ˈfə-nē

funnier; funniest

Synonyms of funny next

: affording light mirth and laughter : amusing

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

Robert Penn Warren

: seeking or intended to amuse : facetious

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

: 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.

: 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

: one that is funny

especially : joke

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

—usually used with the

Example Sentences

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 See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

One of the most delightfully funny narrators in the show's history. —

Dalton Ross, EW.com, 18 May 2023 The Tegan and Sara series High School, still in need of a second-season renewal, is the best of that group, but Greg Garcia’s Sprung offered a funny and pleasantly emotional assortment of pandemic-skewering observations. —

Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 May 2023 Personalize it with an inspirational graduation quote, graduation Bible verse, or funny graduation message. —

Elizabeth Berry, Woman's Day Magazine, 17 May 2023 Likewise, who cares if the characters are entertaining or the jokes funny, so long as there are a lot of both. —

A.a. Dowd, Chron, 17 May 2023 How funny is this daft assault on your laugh reflex? —

Peter Marks, Washington Post, 15 May 2023 Sherri Allen, as Jean, and Heidi Bridges, as Dottie, are endearing and funny as Margie’s friends and fellow bingo enthusiasts. —

Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 May 2023 Giese described Armstrong as not only a pioneer of parenting blogs but also as a writer with a sharp wit, who was genuinely funny and wrote laugh-out-loud content. —

Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 13 May 2023 Their response might be funny or just downright sweet—either way, your mom will cherish the memories made with this printable Mother's Day card. —

Emily Vanschmus, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 May 2023

Noun

Hop to the comments to share your Easter funnies. —

Erin Cavoto, Country Living, 22 Mar. 2023 Many readers found Caity’s self-deprecating tone in the article funny, and others commented that the van life wasn’t supposed to be glamorous. —

New York Times, 4 May 2022 The voice will be instantly recognizable as Saundersesque to anyone familiar with his fiction: jocular and often stand-up-comic funny, with a focus on providing joyful surprises with every turn of phrase. —

Lisa Zeidner, Star Tribune, 8 Feb. 2021 This Netflix look at vulgar language, starring Nicolas Cage, is bust-a-gut funny. —

Willie Brown, SFChronicle.com, 9 Jan. 2021 Anyway, how does a run-through of all these funnies and memes and LOLs and ROFLs out there in the English football world sound? —

SI.com, 20 Aug. 2019 Here For Golden State Convention By ANDREW MAKARUSHKA More than 200 persons who take their funnies seriously gathered in the U.S. Grant Hotel yesterday for the start of the first San Diego Golden State Comics Convention. —

San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 July 2019 Let’s feast on some funnies: A tasty typo turned a U.S. Senate candidate’s name into that of a sandwich. —

Morning Brief, The Seattle Times, 6 July 2018 Lewandowski assured her Facebook followers that Quinn later found the melted doll funny and wasn't traumatized at all. —

Jackie Frere, Redbook, 21 Nov. 2017 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'funny.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.