‘A day without laughter is a day wasted,’ said Charlie Chaplin, the comic actor and filmmaker. Whether or not you agree with him, you’ll almost certainly want to describe, in English, things that are funny. In this week’s post, we’ll provide you with a range of words to help you do just that.
Starting with synonyms for ‘funny’, humorous is often used to describe writing, films, remarks etc. that are intended to make you laugh:
humorous stories / poems
If something is funny and entertaining, you might describe it as amusing:
I find his articles quite amusing.
an amusing anecdote
If something is extremely funny, you can say it is hilarious: Some of the scenes are hilarious. A slightly informal way of saying this is side-splitting or side-splittingly funny:
It’s not side-splitting comedy, but it is quite amusing.
One reviewer described the show as ‘side-splittingly funny’.
Something that you are reading or watching that makes you laugh so much that you make a noise may be described as laugh-out-loud funny: For me, the film wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny, but it was quite amusing.
Another adjective meaning ‘hilarious’ is hysterical. It’s generally used in informal, spoken English:
As he picked up one box, he dropped another and soon they were all over the floor. It was hysterical.
Another mainly spoken word for ‘very funny’ is priceless:
You should have seen the look on her face when she saw his outfit. It was priceless!
Something that is comical, meanwhile, makes you want to laugh because it’s slightly strange or silly:
Do I look comical in this hat?
(Note that the adjective comic means ‘related to or having the quality of comedy’: a comic actor / performance)
A comment that is tongue in cheek is intended to be understood as a joke, although it may look or sound serious:
He said he’d always been a huge fan of the director, which I assumed was tongue in cheek.
A programme or piece of writing, etc. that is light-hearted is funny and not intended to be understood as serious or important:
It’s supposed to be a light-hearted look at the world of politics.
If someone is trying to be funny in a situation where this is not appropriate, you might say they are being facetious:
I hope he didn’t think I was being facetious.
Finally, as many of you will know, the word funny also means ‘strange’. Sometimes, when a person describes someone as ‘funny’, it’s impossible to know which sense they mean, in which case you might ask, Funny ha-ha or funny peculiar? (‘Peculiar’ means ‘strange’):
A: I hadn’t met Abbie before. She’s funny, isn’t she?
B: Funny ha-ha or funny peculiar?
A: I meant ‘funny’! She really made me laugh!
We hope you find plenty of things to laugh at this week!