English Dictionary

LUDICROUS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does ludicrous mean? 

LUDICROUS (adjective)
  The adjective LUDICROUS has 2 senses:

1. broadly or extravagantly humorous; resembling farceplay

2. so unreasonable as to invite derisionplay

  Familiarity information: LUDICROUS used as an adjective is rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


LUDICROUS (adjective)


Sense 1

Meaning:

Broadly or extravagantly humorous; resembling farce

Synonyms:

farcical; ludicrous; ridiculous

Context example:

ludicrous green hair

Similar:

humorous; humourous (full of or characterized by humor)


Sense 2

Meaning:

So unreasonable as to invite derision

Synonyms:

absurd; cockeyed; derisory; idiotic; laughable; ludicrous; nonsensical; preposterous; ridiculous

Context example:

her conceited assumption of universal interest in her rather dull children was ridiculous

Similar:

foolish (devoid of good sense or judgment)


 Context examples 


Then he would put it on the stone again and whet, whet, whet, till I could have laughed aloud, it was so very ludicrous.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I turned my face away to conceal a smile I could not suppress: there was something ludicrous as well as painful in the little Parisienne's earnest and innate devotion to matters of dress.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It was ludicrous, but he was not amused.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He danced about in his agitation, a ludicrous object if it were not for his ashy face and startled eyes.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Strange to relate, this ludicrous accoutrement was far from moving me to laughter.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

A curious equality of friendship, originating, I suppose, in our respective circumstances, sprung up between me and these people, notwithstanding the ludicrous disparity in our years.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Then, right out from all the others and close to the edge of the cliff, were two figures, so strange, and under other circumstances so ludicrous, that they absorbed my attention.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To others it might seem a ludicrous or trivial affair, but to her it was a hard experience, for during the twelve years of her life she had been governed by love alone, and a blow of that sort had never touched her before.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He knew that he must stand up to be introduced, and he struggled painfully to his feet, where he stood with trousers bagging at the knees, his arms loose-hanging and ludicrous, his face set hard for the impending ordeal.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

"In course!" he exclaimed, with a twang of voice and a distortion of features equally fantastic and ludicrous.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"The nail that sticks out gets pounded." (English proverb)

"We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love... and then we return home." (Aboriginal Australian proverbs)

"I'm up to it and to any great thing." (Arabic proverb)

"They who are born of chickens scratch the earth." (Corsican proverb)



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