laughter
/ˈlæftɚ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.10 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "Their loud laughter betrayed their presence."
- "There was some laughter, and Roddle was left free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town."
- "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."
- "Archly the maiden smiled, and with eyes overrunning with 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: laughter, hleahtor, *hlahtraz, *klek-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈlæftɚ/
- British English: /ˈlɑːftə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
canned laughter
dying laughter
dying of laughter
evil laughter
Homeric laughter
lack-laughter
laughter is the best medicine
laughter lines