Laughter

//ˈlɑːftə// name, noun

name, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The sound of laughing, produced by air so expelled; any similar sound. uncountable, usually

    "Their loud laughter betrayed their presence."

  2. 2
    the activity of laughing; the manifestation of joy or mirth or scorn wordnet
  3. 3
    A movement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the laughing face, particularly of the lips, and of the whole body, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs. uncountable, usually

    "The act of laughter, which is caused by a sweet contraction of the muscles of the face, and a pleasant agitation of the vocal organs, is not merely, or totally within the jurisdiction of ourselves."

  4. 4
    the sound of laughing wordnet
  5. 5
    A reason for merriment. archaic, uncountable, usually
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
laughcacklechucklegigglegleeguffaw

Antonyms

All antonyms
crying

Example

More examples

"All at once the bride burst into laughter."

Etymology

From Middle English laughter, laghter, laȝter, from Old English hleahtor (“laughter, jubilation, derision”), from Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz (“laughter”), from Proto-Indo-European *klek-, *kleg- (“to shout”). Cognate with German Gelächter (“laughter, hilarity, merriment”), Danish and Norwegian latter (“laughter”), Icelandic hlátur (“laughter”). More at laugh.

Related phrases

Homeric laughtercanned laughterdying laughterdying of laughterevil laughterlack-laughterlaughter is the best medicinelaughter lineslaughter paddinglaughter tracklaughter yogaha ha

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.