Meanings
laughter1
nounlaughter (usually uncountable, plural laughters)
plural laughters · alternative laughtre
- uncountableusuallyThe sound of laughing, produced by air so expelled; any similar sound.
Their loud laughter betrayed their presence.
1 more example
There was some laughter, and Roddle was left free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town.
1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock - uncountableusuallyA 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.
Archly the maiden smiled, and with eyes overrunning with laughter.
1858 October 16, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Courtship of Miles Standish”, in The Courtship of Miles Standish, and Other Poems, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC1 more example
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.
1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC - archaicuncountableusuallyA reason for merriment.
Laughter2
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*klek-
- Proto-Germanic*hlahtraz“laughter”
- Old Englishhleahtor“laughter, jubilation, derision”
- Middle Englishlaughter
- Englishlaughter
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.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek γέλως, γέλως
- γέλως (gélōs)sound (as) of laughing
- γέλως (gélōs)movement of the muscles of the laughing face
Arabic ضَحِك, ضِحْك
- ضَحِك (ḍaḥik)sound (as) of laughing
- ضِحْك (ḍiḥk)sound (as) of laughing
Basque barre
- barresound (as) of laughing
Bengali হাসি
- হাসি (haśi)sound (as) of laughing
Bulgarian смях
- смях (smjah)sound (as) of laughing
Catalan riure, rialla
- riuresound (as) of laughing
- riallasound (as) of laughing
- rialladasound (as) of laughing
- riallamovement of the muscles of the laughing face
- riuremovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Chinese Cantonese 笑聲 /笑声
- 笑聲 /笑声 (siu³ seng¹ / siu³ sing¹)sound (as) of laughing
Chinese Mandarin 笑聲 /笑声, 笑
- 笑聲 /笑声 (xiàoshēng)sound (as) of laughing
- 笑 (xiào)movement of the muscles of the laughing face
Czech smích, smích
- smíchsound (as) of laughing
- smíchmovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Danish latter, grin
- lattersound (as) of laughing
- grinmovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Dutch gelach, gelach
- gelachsound (as) of laughing
- gelachmovement of the muscles of the laughing face
- lachenmovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Esperanto ridado
- ridadosound (as) of laughing
Estonian naer
- naersound (as) of laughing
Finnish nauru, nauru
- naurusound (as) of laughing
- naurumovement of the muscles of the laughing face
French rire, rire
- riresound (as) of laughing
- riremovement of the muscles of the laughing face
German Gelächter, Lachen
- Gelächtersound (as) of laughing
- Lachensound (as) of laughing
- Gelächtermovement of the muscles of the laughing face
- Lachenmovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Greek γέλιο, γέλιο
- γέλιο (gélio)sound (as) of laughing
- γέλιο (gélio)movement of the muscles of the laughing face
Hebrew צְחוֹק
- צְחוֹק (ts'khok)sound (as) of laughing
Hindi हंसी, ख़ंदा
- हंसी (hansī)sound (as) of laughing
- ख़ंदा (xandā)sound (as) of laughing
- खंदा (khandā)sound (as) of laughing
- हास (hās)sound (as) of laughing
Hungarian nevetés, nevetés
- nevetéssound (as) of laughing
- nevetésmovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Icelandic hlátur
- hlátursound (as) of laughing
Indonesian tawa, ketawa
- tawasound (as) of laughing
- ketawasound (as) of laughing
- gelaksound (as) of laughing
Irish gáire, gáire
- gáiresound (as) of laughing
- gáiremovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Italian risata, riso
- risatasound (as) of laughing
- risosound (as) of laughing
- risatamovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Japanese 笑い声, 笑い
- 笑い声 (waraigoe)sound (as) of laughing
- 笑い (warai)sound (as) of laughing
- 笑い (warai)movement of the muscles of the laughing face
Korean 웃음, 웃음소리
- 웃음 (useum)sound (as) of laughing
- 웃음소리 (useumsori)sound (as) of laughing
- 웃음 (useum)movement of the muscles of the laughing face
- 웃기 (utgi)movement of the muscles of the laughing face
Latin rīsus, cachinnus
- rīsussound (as) of laughing
- cachinnussound (as) of laughing
- rīsusmovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Latvian smiekli
- smieklisound (as) of laughing
Lithuanian juõkas
- juõkassound (as) of laughing
Malay ketawa
- ketawasound (as) of laughing
Norwegian Bokmål latter
- lattersound (as) of laughing
Polish śmiech, śmiech
- śmiechsound (as) of laughing
- śmiechmovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Portuguese risada, risos
- risadasound (as) of laughing
- risossound (as) of laughing
- risadamovement of the muscles of the laughing face
- risomovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Punjabi ਹਾਸਾ, ਹਲਰਾ
- ਹਾਸਾ (hāsā)sound (as) of laughing
- ਹਲਰਾ (halrā)sound (as) of laughing
Romanian râs, râset
- râssound (as) of laughing
- râsetsound (as) of laughing
Russian смех, хо́хот
- смех (smex)sound (as) of laughing
- хо́хот (xóxot)sound (as) of laughing
- смех (smex)movement of the muscles of the laughing face
Scottish Gaelic gàire, gàire
- gàiresound (as) of laughing
- gàiremovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Slovak smiech
- smiechsound (as) of laughing
Spanish risa
- risasound (as) of laughing
Swedish skratt, skratt
- skrattsound (as) of laughing
- skrattmovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Tagalog tawa, pagtawa
- tawasound (as) of laughing
- pagtawamovement of the muscles of the laughing face
Thai เสียงหัวเราะ
- เสียงหัวเราะ (sǐiang-hǔua-rɔ́)sound (as) of laughing
Turkish kahkaha, gülüş
- kahkahasound (as) of laughing
- gülüşsound (as) of laughing
Ukrainian сміх, ре́гіт
- сміх (smix)sound (as) of laughing
- ре́гіт (réhit)sound (as) of laughing
- сміх (smix)movement of the muscles of the laughing face
Urdu ہَنْسی, خَنْدَہ
- ہَنْسی (hansī)sound (as) of laughing
- خَنْدَہ (xanda)sound (as) of laughing
Vietnamese sự cười, tiếng cười
- sự cườisound (as) of laughing
- tiếng cườisound (as) of laughing
Yiddish געלעכטער
- געלעכטער (gelekhter)sound (as) of laughing
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with laughter
afterthereafterhereinafterhereaftercrafterdrafterrafterever aftergrafterhappily ever afterthereinafter
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
laughter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laughter
MLA
“laughter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laughter. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “laughter,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laughter.
Source: laughter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.