as in jokes
a person or thing that is made fun of
his nerdy clothes made him the laughingstock of the schoolyard
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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
Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laughingstocks
Noun
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Yes, as it is said, some jokes just write themselves.—
Steve Fryer,
Oc Register,
8 Jan. 2026
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Performers have been reprimanded for making racist, sexist and homophobic jokes during shows in the late 1990s and 2000s, according to Westword, and Stock Show officials were quick to apologize.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The fools of twenty-first-century Western imperialism possessed little of the historical literacy, let alone the moral sophistication, of Arendt, Weil, and Camus.—
Victor J. Blue,
Harpers Magazine,
23 Nov. 2025
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The mind wants desperately to connect with a person—and fools itself into seeing one in a machine.—
Damon Beres,
The Atlantic,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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His tío was a babalao (a Santería priest) who could conjure a spirit known as an orixá that could then take the form of its targets’ ancestors.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
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The main challenges include aligning climate finance commitments between developed and developing countries, addressing the socio-economic impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations and ensuring that emission reduction targets are consistent with the latest climate science.—
Matthew Glasser,
ABC News,
9 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Laughingstocks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laughingstocks. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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