as in merry
indicative of or marked by high spirits or good humor
the satisfying comedy put us in a laughing mood for the rest of the evening
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in giggling
to show mirth with an explosive vocal sound
everyone laughed when the clown dramatically slipped and fell
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sneering
to express scornful amusement by means of facial contortions
you're going to try out for the football team? Don't make me laugh!
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of laughing
Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
Keith moved into the center of the balcony, posing and laughing.
—Danielle Parker, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
There was none of the usual laughing and joking.
—Mario Cortegana, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2026
The laughing becomes infectious.
—Omar L. Gallaga, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2026
Belt It Out at Sweet Caroline Karaoke Bar If your idea of a great date involves a little chaos, a lot of laughing, and maybe a surprisingly decent duet, Sweet Caroline Karaoke Bar is calling your name.
—Lauren Schuster, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2026
The former competitive cheerleader said the laughing was an act of misogyny.
—Jay Stahl, USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026
Harbour and Brown arrived together on the red carpet for the premiere of the latest season and were captured on camera laughing, hugging each other and posing for photos.
—Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
The laughing and stuff wasn’t written into it.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 5 Sep. 2025
Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 9 June 2026
The world is laughing at our inability to count votes in a timely manner.
—Juhi Doshi, ABC News, 9 June 2026
Mullan comes down hard on the side of Austen mocking Marianne, even laughing at her.
—Literary Hub, 8 June 2026
The world is laughing at our inability to count votes in a timely manner.
—Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 8 June 2026
My dream was always that people are literally catching their breath from laughing.
—Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 7 June 2026
First and foremost, as was first reported by Shanghai Daily, the child was not seriously injured, so if your first instinct was to fear retribution for laughing at the visual of a humanoid robot doing a Rex-Kwan-Do routine in a clown wig and rocking some little kid in the chest, then worry not.
—Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 June 2026
Families and groups of friends gather around the chic outdoor patio furniture, laughing and telling stories.
—Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 6 June 2026
Set the scene The family-friendly ambiance is immediately noticeable, with children laughing and playing throughout the resort.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
Noun
Mira and two friends moved to a low wall and huddled around their own smartwatches, whispering and laughing.
—Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
Keith moved into the center of the balcony, posing and laughing.
—Danielle Parker, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
There was none of the usual laughing and joking.
—Mario Cortegana, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2026
The laughing becomes infectious.
—Omar L. Gallaga, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2026
Belt It Out at Sweet Caroline Karaoke Bar If your idea of a great date involves a little chaos, a lot of laughing, and maybe a surprisingly decent duet, Sweet Caroline Karaoke Bar is calling your name.
—Lauren Schuster, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2026
The former competitive cheerleader said the laughing was an act of misogyny.
—Jay Stahl, USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026
Harbour and Brown arrived together on the red carpet for the premiere of the latest season and were captured on camera laughing, hugging each other and posing for photos.
—Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
The laughing and stuff wasn’t written into it.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
The former couple did spend the 2025 holiday season together, with Slater taking to his own Instagram Stories in December to share rare photos of the pop star cuddling with a dog and laughing at a private gathering.
—Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 9 June 2026
The world is laughing at our inability to count votes in a timely manner.
—Juhi Doshi, ABC News, 9 June 2026
Mullan comes down hard on the side of Austen mocking Marianne, even laughing at her.
—Literary Hub, 8 June 2026
The world is laughing at our inability to count votes in a timely manner.
—Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 8 June 2026
My dream was always that people are literally catching their breath from laughing.
—Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 7 June 2026
First and foremost, as was first reported by Shanghai Daily, the child was not seriously injured, so if your first instinct was to fear retribution for laughing at the visual of a humanoid robot doing a Rex-Kwan-Do routine in a clown wig and rocking some little kid in the chest, then worry not.
—Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 June 2026
Families and groups of friends gather around the chic outdoor patio furniture, laughing and telling stories.
—Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 6 June 2026
Set the scene The family-friendly ambiance is immediately noticeable, with children laughing and playing throughout the resort.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laughing
Adjective
-
Margaret, like Daniel, ends up on the lam, and Spielberg whisks the audience along for these two merry chases.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
9 June 2026
-
Reddit threads and gossip pages are ablaze with speculation about who will get the invite, but Swift seems to be opting for a more-the-merrier approach.—
Anna Grace Lee,
Vogue,
4 June 2026
Noun
-
Karen Jesch, a PhD student at Boston College’s Canine Cognition Center, points out that human smiling is a strange behavior to begin with, and not always a happy one.—
Niranjana Rajalakshmi,
Popular Science,
14 May 2026
-
There was a lot of nervous smiling.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Flashlight tag is an oldie but goodie and will have parents giggling like schoolgirls along with their kids.—
Orlando Sentinel Staff,
The Orlando Sentinel,
24 May 2026
-
Total strangers giggling about his addiction to drugs.—
Brianna Zigler,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 May 2026
Verb
-
Cassie’s OnlyFans adventures, for interest, were depicted with a kind of sneering derision toward the character’s poor judgement and lack of savvy.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
1 June 2026
-
Newman’s God is laughing at our prayers, sneering at our cries for help.—
Time,
Time,
6 May 2026
Adjective
-
Jason Maddy disappears into multiple roles including the sleazy diner owner, the jolly Napa depot manager who pre-reads everyone’s mail and the wise doctor who treats Tony after a car accident.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 June 2026
-
He-Man was now a jolly, quip-ready hero, whose best friends were scaredy-cat Cringer (a green-and-yellow tiger who transformed into Battle Cat), and an annoying, hovering magician called Orko.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
Baffert watched it all on his laptop from California, chuckling as the board showing the horse’s price flaked out momentarily.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
1 May 2026
-
Flying cows, fiddle-playing cats, and chuckling retrievers inhabit the space between ornate columns.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
22 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The itineraries aboard the line’s nearly 2,700-guest Nieuw Statendam ship will incorporate the festive stops into ocean voyages.—
Nathan Diller,
USA Today,
28 May 2026
-
The festive holiday lights, a winter staple of Mears Park, lined only one side of the park, leaving its three other sides bare.—
Frederick Melo,
Twin Cities,
27 May 2026
Verb
-
As if each of us isn’t a walking embodiment of our moment, clueless and attuned at once, screaming about one thing and in total denial about another.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
-
There were the arrests of tearful and screaming immigrants, captured on video and played on endless loops across social media.—
Moriah Balingit,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Laughing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laughing. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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