ludicrous

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The perception of the ludicrous is a pledge of sanity.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. adjective Laughable or hilarious because of obvious absurdity or incongruity. See Synonyms at foolish.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • It verges on the ludicrous--but why attack poor Bethmann? —  Face to Face with Kaiserism
  • Go, stand up by the door The man made a low obeisance and went Let the household servants and slaves pass before their new superior and do him honour With promptitude, and with a gravity that was intensely ludicrous--for none dared to smile in the presence of Hamed Pasha--the servants of the establishment, having been summoned, filed before the new steward and bowed to him. —  In the Track of the Troops
  • Likewise he was gifted with a strong sense of the ludicrous, as I have reason to know We advanced slowly into the plain at first, and gradually scattered until some of the party began to look like mere specks in the distance. —  Six Months at the Cape
  • She was rather easily taken by surprise with passing touches of the ludicrous, and had not yet acquired the habit of effectually suppressing little explosions of undertoned mirth The thing that puzzles me," said Mrs Stoutley, "is, that glaciers should flow_, as I am told they do, and yet that they should be as hard and brittle as glass Ah, well, yes, just so, h'm!" —  Rivers of Ice
  • Nature had furnished him with a keen sense of the ludicrous, and a remarkably open countenance. —  Rivers of Ice
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

ridiculous ·  comical ·  amuse ·  grotesque ·  pathetic ·  tragic ·  bizarre ·  embarrass ·  comic ·  whimsical
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Latin lūdicrus, sportive, from lūdus, game; see leid- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = Old French ludicre = Portuguese Italian ludicro, from Latin ludicrus, sportive, from ludus, play, from ludere, play, sport. Cf. allude, collude, delude, elude, illude, prelude.
 

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/ˈljudɪkrəs/
by American Heritage

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