laughing stock

plural laughing stocks · alternative laughingstock · alternative laughing-stock

1. idiomaticAn object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; the butt of a joke.

   Pray you let us not be laughing-stocks to other men's humours.

   c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]

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   When he talked, he talked nonsense, and made himself the laughing-stock of his hearers.

   1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC

   If anyone can restore dignity to a franchise that has been close to a laughing stock in the last few years, it's Gibbs.

   2004 September 12, Judy Battista, “Pro Football: NFL Matchups, Week 1”, in New York Times, retrieved 19 Apr 2009

   The split was supposedly triggered by racism — specifically anti-Jewish racism. But on this front, the Independent Group have already become a laughingstock.

   2019 February 19, Annie Cohen, 'Yes, There’s Anti-Semitism In Labour. No, Those Politicians Didn’t Quit Over It.', The Forward (retrieved 21 February 2019)

   Toronto Transit Corporation had real issues. [...] My boss was removed in a coup three months after my arrival. I stood in and my learning curve went through the roof. Over five years, we went from being a laughing stock to winning awards.

   2020 December 2, Andy Byford talks to Paul Clifton, “I enjoy really big challenges...”, in Rail, page 54

   Synonyms: ass, asshole, butt, clown, dead horse, dumbass, dummy, fiddle