ENGLISH
REFERENCE

laughing stock

idiom
Meaning

An object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; the butt of a joke.


Origin

disputed origin

From laughing + stock (“source, supply; butt, target”). Compare also whipping-stock, jesting-stock.

Examples
SIMPLE

If you wear that silly costume, you will be a laughing stock.

CONTEXTUAL

After his failed presentation, he became the laughing stock of the entire office for weeks.

COMPLEX

The politician feared that his public blunder would make him the laughing stock of the nation, effectively ending his career.

Anchors to
Related idioms4entries
  1. 01

    burst out laughing

    To start laughing suddenly and intensely.

  2. 02

    laughing tackle

    Teeth.

  3. 03

    stock phrase

    A phrase frequently or habitually used by a person or group, and thus associated with them.

  4. 04

    take stock

    To scrutinize or size up something; to assess a situation.

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