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laughing

verb

Form of laugh , present participle of laugh.

Simple meaning

To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

lafing

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlæfɪŋ

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.

verb

  1. present participle of laugh

    To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and eyes, and usually accompanied by the emission of explosive or chuckling sounds from the chest and throat; to indulge in laughter.

  2. present participle of laughintransitivefollowed by "at"

    To make an object of laughter or ridicule; to make fun of; to deride; to mock.

  3. present participle of laugh

    To affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule.

  4. present participle of laugh

    Produce laughter

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and eyes, and usually accompanied by the emission of explosive or chuckling sounds from the chest and throat; to indulge in laughter.

Used this way, laughing is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Slightly positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Positive and appreciative
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

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

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

laughing matterlaughing eyeslaughing togetherlaughing heartily

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • laughverbBase word

    Produce laughter.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • laughing gasnounCompound term

    Inhalation anesthetic used as an anesthetic in dentistry and surgery.

  • laughing gullnounCompound term

    Small black-headed European gull.

  • laughing hyenanounCompound term

    African hyena noted for its distinctive howl.

  • laughing jackassnounCompound term

    Australian kingfisher having a loud cackling cry.

  • laughing owlnounCompound term

    Almost extinct owl of New Zealand.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • laughternounRelated term

    The sound of laughing.

  • laugh awayverbRelated term

    Deal with a problem by laughing or pretending to be amused by it.

  • laugh offverbRelated term

    Deal with a problem by laughing or pretending to be amused by it.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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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.