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ludicrous - 4 dictionary results

lu⋅di⋅crous

  [loo-di-kruhs]
Use ludicrous in a Sentence
–adjective
causing laughter because of absurdity; provoking or deserving derision; ridiculous; laughable: a ludicrous lack of efficiency.
Origin:
1610–20; < L lūdicrus sportive, equiv. to lūdicr(um) a show, public games (lūdi-, s. of lūdere to play, + -crum n. suffix of instrument or result) + -us -ous

Related forms:
lu⋅di⋅crous⋅ly, adverb
lu⋅di⋅crous⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
farcical. See funny.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ludicrous
lu·di·crous   (lōō'dĭ-krəs)   
adj.  Laughable or hilarious because of obvious absurdity or incongruity. See Synonyms at foolish.

[From Latin lūdicrus, sportive, from lūdus, game; see leid- in Indo-European roots.]
lu'di·crous·ly adv., lu'di·crous·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ludicrous

Lu"di*crous\, a. [L. ludicrus, or ludicer, from ludus play, sport, fr. ludere to play.] Adapted to excite laughter, without scorn or contempt; sportive. --Broome.

A chapter upon German rhetoric would be in the same ludicrous predicament as Van Troil's chapter on the snakes of Iceland, which delivers its business in one summary sentence, announcing, that snakes in Iceland -- there are none. --De Quincey.

Syn: Laughable; sportive; burlesque; comic; droll; ridiculous.

Usage: Ludicrous, Laughable, Ridiculous. We speak of a thing as ludicrous when it tends to produce laughter; as laughable when the impression is somewhat stronger; as ridiculous when more or less contempt is mingled with the merriment created. -- Lu"di*crous*ly, adv. -- Lu"di*crous*ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : ludicrous
Spanish: ridículo,
German: lächerlich,
Japanese: ばかげた
More Translations »

ludicrous 
1619, "pertaining to play or sport," from L. ludicrus, from ludicrum "source of amusement, joke," from ludere "to play," which, with L. ludus "a game, play," may be from Etruscan, or from a PIE base *leid- "to play." Sense of "ridiculous" is attested from 1782.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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