English

Alternative forms

• laughingstock, laughing-stock

Noun

laughing stock ‎(plural laughing stocks)

1. (idiomatic) An object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; a butt of sport.
   • c. 1598, William Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, act 3, scene 1:

     Pray you let us not be

     laughing-stocks to other men's humours.

   • 1856, Lord Macaulay, contribution to Encyclopedia Britannica on Oliver Goldsmith:

     When he talked, he talked nonsense, and made himself the laughing-stock of his hearers.

   • 2004 September 12, Judy Battista, "Pro Football: NFL Matchups, Week 1," New York Times (retrieved 19 April 2009):

     If anyone can restore dignity to a franchise that has been close to a laughing stock in the last few years, it's Gibbs.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:laughingstock

Related terms

• butt of the joke

Translations