ludicrous

lu·di·crous

adj \ˈlü-də-krəs\

Definition of LUDICROUS

1

: amusing or laughable through obvious absurdity, incongruity, exaggeration, or eccentricity

2

: meriting derisive laughter or scorn as absurdly inept, false, or foolish

— lu·di·crous·ly adverb

— lu·di·crous·ness noun

Examples of LUDICROUS

1. <the ludicrous sight of their teacher in a Halloween costume>
2. <a ludicrous and easily detected attempt to forge his father's signature on a note to school>
3. Some of this censorship is trivial, some is ludicrous, and some is breathtaking in its power to dumb down what children learn in school. —Diane Ravitch, The Language Police, 2003
4. The serious and the absurd have to be learnt together; but ludicrous theatrical buffoonery is fit only for foreigners. —Iris Murdoch, The Fire & the Sun, 1977
5. The girl didn't comment on the steepness, or the brambles, or the fact that it seemed ludicrous to cart furniture through an apparently endless forest. —Anne Tyler, The Clock Winder, 1972
6. Her teachers complained that instead of doing her sums she covered her slate with animals, the blank pages of her atlas were used to copy maps on, and caricatures of the most ludicrous description came fluttering out of all her books at unlucky moments. —Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, 1868-69

Origin of LUDICROUS

Latin ludicrus, from ludus play, sport; perhaps akin to Greek loidoros abusive

First Known Use: 1712

Related to LUDICROUS

Synonyms: antic, chucklesome, comedic, comic, comical, droll, farcical, hilarious, humoristic, humorous, hysterical (also hysteric), killing, laughable, funny, ridiculous, riotous, risible, screaming, sidesplitting, uproarious

Antonyms: humorless, lame, unamusing, uncomic, unfunny, unhumorous, unhysterical

Related Words: amusing, diverting, entertaining; clownish, knockabout, slapstick, slapsticky, zany; facetious, flip, flippant, pert, smart, smart-aleck, smart-alecky, snickery; jocular, playful, waggish; campy, jokey (also joky); priceless, rich, whimsical, witty, wry; blithesome, gleeful, jocose, jocund, jolly, jovial, laughing, mad, merry, mirthful

Near Antonyms: earnest, grave, no-nonsense, sedate, serious, severe, sober, sobersided, solemn, somber (or sombre), staid, unsmiling, weighty; affecting, moving, poignant, touching, tragic (also tragical); lachrymose, mournful, sad, sorrowful, tearful, woeful

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See Synonym Discussion at laughable