Wiktionary

risible

English

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WOTD – 15 May 2007

Etymology

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From Middle French risible and directly from Late Latin rīsibilis, from Latin rīsus (“laughter”) + -ibilis, from the perfect passive participle of rīdeō (“laugh”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈɹɪzɪbəl/, /ˈɹaɪzɪbəl/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

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risible (comparative more risible, superlative most risible)

  1. Of or pertaining to laughter
    the risible muscles
    • 1912, Arthur Quiller-Couch, chapter 20, in Hocken and Hunken:
      A joke merely affected her with silent convulsive twitchings, as though the risible faculties struggled somewhere within her but could not bring the laugh to birth.
  2. Provoking laughter; ludicrous; ridiculous; humorously insignificant
    • 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 277:
      " […] I hope you find nothing risible in my complaisance?" replied his companion, something jealously.
    • 1979, Monty Python's Life of Brian, spoken by Pontius Pilate (Michael Palin):
      Do you find it risible when I say the name, 'Biggus Dickus'?
    • 2024 May 1, Mel Holley, “Network News: New action from ASLEF to hit Bank Holiday services”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 14:
      Whelan called the offer "risible", describing it as a "land grab for all the terms and conditions we have negotiating over the years". He demanded a no-strings pay offer that recognises the "significant cost of living increases" since the last pay rise in 2019.
  3. (of a person) Easily laughing; prone to laughter
    • 1674, Anonymous [Richard Allestree?], “Of Scoffing and Deriſion”, in The Government of the Tongue‎[1], At the Theater in Oxford, page 119:
      We are got indeed into a merry world, Laughing is our main buſiniſs; as if becauſe it has bin made part of the Definition of man, that he his Riſible, his man-hood conſiſted in nothing elſe.
    • 1897, Thomas Hardy, chapter 8, in The Well-Beloved:
      She was half risible, half concerned.

Synonyms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Adjective

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risible m or f (masculine and feminine plural risibles)

  1. laughable

French

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin rīsibilis, from rīdeō (“to laugh”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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risible (plural risibles)

  1. risible, laughable

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Spanish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Late Latin rīsibilis, from rīdeō (“to laugh”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /riˈsible/ [riˈsi.β̞le]
  • Rhymes: -ible
  • Syllabification: ri‧si‧ble

Adjective

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risible m or f (masculine and feminine plural risibles)

  1. risible, laughable

Further reading

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