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funny

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

Humor in general.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fuhnee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfʌni

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Internet slangchiefly ironic

    Humor in general.

  2. informal

    A joke.

  3. informal

    A comic strip.

adjective

  1. Amusing; humorous; comical.

  2. Strange or unusual, often in an unpleasant way.

  3. ukirelandinformal

    Showing unexpected resentment.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (Internet slang, chiefly ironic) Humor in general.

Used this way, funny is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technology and everyday conversation contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Very casual
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Playful
Usage feel
Playful and informal

Where it naturally appears

  • Technology
  • Everyday conversation
  • Social media/informal writing

Usage note

Slang: natural in speech and messages between friends, but out of place in school, work or published writing.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use funny

  • “She told a funny story.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

funny storysome funnyfunny feeling

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • funniesnounPlural form

    A sequence of drawings telling a story in a newspaper or comic book.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • funny bonenounCompound term

    A point on the elbow where the ulnar nerve passes near the surface.

  • funny farmnounCompound term

    Pejorative terms for an insane asylum.

  • funny housenounCompound term

    Pejorative terms for an insane asylum.

  • funny remarknounCompound term

    An account of an amusing incident (usually with a punch line).

  • funny storynounCompound term

    An account of an amusing incident (usually with a punch line).

  • funny wagonnounCompound term

    An ambulance used to transport patients to a mental hospital.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: amusing

comiccomicalhumourousRarelaughable

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.