laughingstocks

noun

plural of laughingstock
as in jokes
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 laughingstocks After going from perennial laughingstocks to legitimate contenders over the last two years, the Detroit Lions could be poised for their best season yet. — Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laughingstocks
  1. jokes
  2. fools
  3. targets
Noun
  • Television’s rise forced it to reinvent itself by introducing live disc jockeys who played music and told jokes.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
  • As a teenager, Davidson would sit in the back of the bus and write jokes on his way to and from basketball games and try them on his teammates.
    — Marlow Stern, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of jokes
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
  • In a room full of fascists and fools, Ahmed’s projection of competence—and of the spluttering exasperation that is the lot of the competent—proves a genuine balm.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of fools
Noun
  • Users will be able to request information on security officers, informants or recruitment targets based on their name, date or place of birth, mother's name, code name and document type or number.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Roche stopped work on one of its obesity drug candidates, after clinical-trial data suggested the medicine did not hit internal targets, The Wall Street Journal tells us.
    — Ed Silverman, STAT, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of targets

Browse Nearby Words

laughingstock
laughingstocks
laugh off
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Laughingstocks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laughingstocks. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

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