What does "laugh" mean?

1. (to show mirth) to make a sound and move your face because you are happy or think something is funny. 2. (to mock) to make fun of someone or something in an unkind way. 3. (the sound of laughter) the sound you make when you are laughing. 4. (a fun person or thing) a person or situation that is very fun or funny.

laugh — meaning, definition & examples

Q: Is it correct to say "We laughed about his funny story."?

No — say "We laughed at his funny story.". While you can 'laugh about' a situation later, the standard preposition for the immediate cause of laughter is 'at'.

Word

01to show mirth

A1 · Beginner

v. to make a sound and move your face because you are happy or think something is funny.

v. to express amusement or mirth through spontaneous vocal sounds and facial movements. Intransitive, often taking the preposition 'at'.

“The children started to laugh when the clown did a silly dance.”

“The audience laughed uproariously at the comedian's sharp observations, filling the small theatre with a contagious energy.”

Pitfall

We laughed about his funny story.

We laughed at his funny story.

While you can 'laugh about' a situation later, the standard preposition for the immediate cause of laughter is 'at'.

Synonyms

chuckle giggleguffaw

Antonyms

cry weep

02to mock

B1 · Intermediate

v. to make fun of someone or something in an unkind way.

v. to treat someone or something with ridicule or derision. Usually takes the preposition 'at'.

“It is not nice to laugh at people when they make a mistake.”

“Critics laughed at the director's ambitious vision when the film first debuted, though it later became a cult classic.”

Synonyms

mock ridiculederide

03the sound of laughter

A1 · Beginner Countable noun

n. the sound you make when you are laughing.

n. the audible manifestation of laughing; a vocal expression of amusement.

“I heard a loud laugh coming from the other room.”

“Her distinctive, melodic laugh could be heard across the crowded gala, acting as a beacon for her friends.”

Synonyms

laughter chuckle

04a fun person or thing

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun British English · Informal

n. a person or situation that is very fun or funny.

n. a person, event, or situation that provides amusement or entertainment. Often used in the phrase 'a good laugh'.

“You should invite Sarah to the party; she is a great laugh.”

“The weekend trip was a real laugh, providing a much-needed break from the intensity of the office environment.”

Synonyms

joker hoot

Antonyms

bore

From Middle English laughen, laghen, from (Anglian) Old English hlæhhan, hlehhan, (West Saxon) hliehhan, from Proto-West Germanic hlahhjan, from Proto-Germanic hlahjaną. Cognates Germanic: Scots lauch (“to laugh”), Yola leeigh, leigh (“to laugh”), North Frisian laache, lachi, laake, loache, lååke (“to laugh”), Saterland Frisian laachje (“to laugh”), West Frisian laitsje (“to laugh”), Alemannic German lache (“to laugh”), Cimbrian lachan (“to laugh”), Dutch, German, and Low German lachen (“to laugh”), Luxembourgish laachen (“to laugh”), Yiddish לאַכן (lakhn, “to laugh”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish le (“to laugh”), Elfdalian läa (“to laugh”), Faroese læa (“to laugh”), Icelandic hlæja (“to laugh”), Norwegian Nynorsk le, læ, læja (“to laugh”), Crimean Gothic lachen (“to laugh”), Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌷𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hlahjan, “to laugh”). Indo-European: Breton kloc'h (“bell”), Irish clog (“bell; clock”), Manx and Scottish Gaelic clag (“bell”), Welsh cloch (“bell”), Russian клекота́ть (klekotátʹ), клокота́ть (klokotátʹ), клохта́ть (kloxtátʹ, “to cluck, cackle”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

VERB

laugh(A1)

laughing(A1)

ADJECTIVE

laughable(B2)

comedy funny haha humorous joke laugh off laughter ridicule smile