laughing stock
laughing stock noun: an object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; the butt of a joke.
Noun
laughing stock (plural laughing stocks)
- An object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; the butt of a joke.
- Pray you let us not be
laughing-stocks to other men's humours.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]... - When he talked, he talked nonsense, and made himself the laughing-stock of his hearers.1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green...
- Synonyms:
- ass, asshole, butt, clown, dead horse, dumbass, dummy, fiddle, figure of fun, fool
- Pray you let us not be
laughing stock meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Arabic
laughing stock in Tamil
- கேலிப்பொருள், பரிகாசப் பொருள், கேலி, கிண்டலுக்கு ஆளாதல்
laughing stock in Urdu
- خندہ ریش, ہدف تمسخر
laughing stock in Malayalam
- butt, figure of fun, dupe
- പരിഹാസപാത്രം, വിഡ്ഢി, കോമാളി, പടുഭോഷൻ, മണ്ടൻ, ഭോഷൻ
laughing stock in Arabic
- object of ridicule
- أُضْحُوكَة ʔuḍḥūka, مَضْحَكَة maḍḥaka, مَسْخَرَة masḵara
More languagesFewer languages
- laughing stock in Indonesian
- bahan tertawaan
- laughing stock in Persian
- مچل mačal, مضحکه mazhake, خنده خریش xande-xeriš, خریخه xerixe
Examples of laughing stock in a sentence
- If anyone can restore dignity to a franchise that has been close to a laughing stock in the last few years, it's Gibbs.2004 September 12, Judy Battista, “Pro Football: NFL Matchups, Week 1”, in New York Times, retrieved 19 Apr 2009:
- Over five years, we went from being a laughing stock to winning awards.2020 December 2, Andy Byford talks to Paul Clifton, “I enjoy really big challenges...”, in Rail, page 54:
Synonyms of laughing stock
13 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of laughing stock
| plural | laughing stocks |
|---|---|
| alternative form | laughingstock |
| alternative form | laughing-stock |
Origin of laughing stock
From laughing + stock (“source, supply; butt, target”). Compare also whipping-stock, jesting-stock.
Questions about laughing stock
- What does laughing stock mean?
- Laughing stock means an object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; the butt of a joke.
- What is laughing stock in Tamil?
- Laughing stock in Tamil is கேலிப்பொருள், பரிகாசப் பொருள், கேலி. See Laughing stock meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use laughing stock in a sentence?
- If anyone can restore dignity to a franchise that has been close to a laughing stock in the last few years, it's Gibbs.
- What part of speech is laughing stock?
- Laughing stock is a noun.
- What is the plural of laughing stock?
- The plural of laughing stock is laughing stocks.
Words near laughing stock in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: laughing stock (page history and authors); laughing stock (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); laughing stock (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); laughing stock (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-laughing stock.ogg.
Cite this entry: “laughing stock.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/laughing_stock. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.