risibility

noun

ris·​i·​bil·​i·​ty ˌri-zə-ˈbi-lə-tē How to pronounce risibility (audio)
plural risibilities
1
2
: the ability or inclination to laugh
often used in plural
our risibilities support us as we skim over the surface of a deep issueJ. A. Pike

Examples of risibility in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Yet a motion that Fox News filed on Friday may outpace all the internal correspondence for sheer risibility. Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2023 Setting aside the thermostat narrative’s innate risibility, it withers when brought within ten yards of the facts. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 18 July 2022 His great talent was to take tiny grains of information in reports and proposals, repackage them as official European policy and present them as part of a broad narrative about Brussels’s risibility. Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 30 June 2016

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

Word History

First Known Use

1620, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of risibility was in 1620

Dictionary Entries Near risibility

Cite this Entry

“Risibility.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/risibility. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.

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