LAUGHINGSTOCK Synonyms: 22 Similar and Opposite Words

laughingstock

noun

ˈla-fiŋ-ˌstäk

Definition of laughingstock

as in joke

a person or thing that is made fun of his nerdy clothes made him the laughingstock of the schoolyard

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of laughingstock Richmond became the laughingstock of the Premier League, and the players increasingly struggled with morale, even while their off-the-pitch bonds remained as strong as ever. — Rachel Labonte, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Aug. 2026 Harbaugh is doing this because the Giants currently are a laughingstock, an afterthought, one of the losingest franchises in the NFL for the bulk of the past decade. — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 25 July 2026 The other—the New York Knicks—have gone from the NBA's laughingstock just a decade ago to NBA champion. — Robert Reiss, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026 The fundamentalist movement became a national laughingstock. — Michael Luo, New Yorker, 14 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for laughingstock

Recent Examples of Synonyms for laughingstock

Noun

That’s one of the wobbliest of the timeline-hopping jokes in the show.

— Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
Painfully aware of this, Shawn waited for one of the drunk old men to comment, heckle, make one of those incomprehensible jokes that drew rude laughter from adults.

— Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of joke

Noun

The Trasks encounter a wide swath of citizens, haggling with sneaky cheats, exploiting innocent fools, and befriending big-hearted neighbors.

— Ben Travers, IndieWire, 1 Oct. 2026
To protest in the street, to be arrested for attacking a police officer or vandalizing private property, or making a fool of yourself in any of a hundred different ways is valuable currency to anyone seeking status within an activist organization.

— Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of fool

Browse Nearby Words

laughing off

laughingstock

laughingstocks

See all Nearby Words

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Style

“Laughingstock.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laughingstock. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of laughingstock

noun

Example Sentences

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