as in chuckle
an explosive sound that is a sign of amusement
the nervous producers were reassured by the sounds of laughter coming from the theater
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of laughter
And to be perfectly fair, nervous gratuitous laughter at stupid jokes is not unknown among anyone, including the press corps.
—
John Shipley, Twin Cities, 24 Feb. 2026
Dictionaries have highlighted, as their words of the year, brain rot and post-truth and an emoji caught between laughter and tears.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 24 Feb. 2026
The men were personally congratulated with a direct call, while the women were referenced later, almost as a footnote, in a moment punctuated by laughter.
—Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 24 Feb. 2026
That was just to elicit nervous laughter.
—Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News, 23 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for laughter
John Shipley, Twin Cities, 24 Feb. 2026
Dictionaries have highlighted, as their words of the year, brain rot and post-truth and an emoji caught between laughter and tears.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 24 Feb. 2026
The men were personally congratulated with a direct call, while the women were referenced later, almost as a footnote, in a moment punctuated by laughter.
—Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 24 Feb. 2026
That was just to elicit nervous laughter.
—Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News, 23 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for laughter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laughter
Noun
-
Gibson got a good chuckle from the audience one last time.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Shane vacuums, talks with customers, helps with bagging sales at the register, and is, of course, their expert in shopping advice, Aspen said with a chuckle.—
Rick Mauch,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Mulvaney’s penchant for girlish giggles and squeals between bites of her spaghetti pomodoro stand out in Arno, especially when juxtaposed against the sea of older gentlemen in an assortment of ill-fitting grey blazers sitting behind her at the bar.—
Chris Murphy,
Vanity Fair,
18 Feb. 2026
-
My sisters teased me about my muffled giggles under the covers in the middle of the night.—
Faith Karimi,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Rather than letting the gags flit by quickly, the cast pauses endlessly after each utterance to milk the laughs.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Trump told the men’s team during the call, eliciting laughs in the background.—
Rachel Roberts,
Idaho Statesman,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The event also had free opportunities to take photos, get ice cream snickers and have earned a Super Bowl post card.—
Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado
Updated February 5,
Sacbee.com,
5 Feb. 2026
-
While there were a few snickers, the photographers obliged and got their photos.—
Brittany Spanos,
Rolling Stone,
11 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Laughter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laughter. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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