ridiculous

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled rideeculous and ridicklous

US /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/ UK /ɹɪˈdɪk.jʊ.ləs/ See IPA manual

Freq #1322

Meanings

1

adj
So silly or unreasonable that it deserves to be laughed at.

That hairstyle looks completely ridiculous.
2

adj
So extreme or surprising that it is hard to believe (often as praise).

The team built the bridge in a ridiculous three days.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · so silly or unreasonable... absurd farcical foolish laughable ludicrous preposterous silly

Word family

Forms ridiculously

Derived forms nonridiculousridicridiculouslyridiculousnessunridiculous

Related forms deride derisionridiculableridicularityridicule ridiculosity

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

from the sublime to the ridiculous
from something impressive or elevated to something absurd or trivial

Simplified etymology

Ridiculous comes from Latin ridiculus “laughable,” derived from ridere “to laugh.” The related words ridicule, derision, and deride come from the same Latin root.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rīdiculus (“laughable, ridiculous”); Equivalent to ridicule + -ous.

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# ridiculous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/
**IPA (UK):** /ɹɪˈdɪk.jʊ.ləs/
**Frequency rank:** 1322

## Meanings
1. So silly or unreasonable that it deserves to be laughed at.
2. So extreme or surprising that it is hard to believe (often as praise).

## Examples
- That hairstyle looks completely ridiculous.
- The team built the bridge in a ridiculous three days.

## Derived Forms
- nonridiculous
- ridic
- ridiculously
- ridiculousness
- unridiculous

## Related Forms
- deride
- derision
- ridiculable
- ridicularity
- ridicule
- ridiculosity

## Etymology
Borrowed from Latin rīdiculus (“laughable, ridiculous”); Equivalent to ridicule + -ous.

## AI Etymology
Ridiculous is borrowed from Latin rīdiculus (“laughable, ridiculous”); Equivalent to ridicule + -ous. Modern senses include so silly or unreasonable that it deserves to be laughed at. and so extreme or surprising that it is hard to believe (often as praise).. The wider word family includes derivatives such as nonridiculous, ridic, ridiculously, ridiculousness, and unridiculous and related forms such as deride, derision, ridiculable, and ridicularity.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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