laughing-stock

He became the laughing-stock of the office after his presentation.

Definition

Noun: A person who is an object of ridicule or mockery; someone who is laughed at by others.

Usage Examples

• (He was ridiculed by his colleagues.)
• (He was mocked publicly.)
• (She did not want to be ridiculed.)

Advanced Usage

• "to make a laughing-stock of someone": to cause someone to become an object of ridicule.

  • The prank made a laughing-stock of the teacher. (The prank caused the teacher to be mocked.)

• "to become the laughing-stock of [a group]": to be ridiculed by a specific community or group.

  • The team’s poor performance made them the laughing-stock of the league. (The entire league mocked the team.)

Variants and Related Words

• Laughing (adj): emitting or causing laughter.
  • The laughing audience enjoyed the comedian’s jokes. (The audience was laughing.)
• Stock (n): a supply of goods or a lineage; here, it implies a person who is a “source” of laughter.
  • He was a stock character in the play. (A character representing a type.)

Synonyms

• Butt of a joke: a person who is the target of a joke or ridicule.
• Figure of fun: someone who is laughed at.
• Object of derision: a person treated with contemptuous mockery.

Idioms

• “Make a laughing-stock of oneself”: to do something foolish that causes others to laugh at you.

  • By tripping on stage, he made a laughing-stock of himself. (He embarrassed himself publicly.)

• “Be a laughing-stock”: to be widely mocked.

  • The company’s faulty product made it a laughing-stock in the industry. (The company was ridiculed.)