risible

English

WOTD – 15 May 2007

Etymology

From Middle French risible and directly from Late Latin rīsibilis, from Latin rīsus (“laughter”) + -ibilis, from the perfect passive participle of rīdeō (“laugh”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪzɪbəl/, /ˈɹaɪzɪbəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

risible (comparative more risible, superlative most risible)

1. Of or pertaining to laughter

   the risible muscles

   • 1912, Arthur Quiller-Couch, chapter 20, in Hocken and Hunken:

     A joke merely affected her with silent convulsive twitchings, as though the risible faculties struggled somewhere within her but could not bring the laugh to birth.

2. Provoking laughter; ludicrous; ridiculous; humorously insignificant
   • 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 277:

     " […] I hope you find nothing risible in my complaisance?" replied his companion, something jealously.

   • 1979, Monty Python's Life of Brian, spoken by Pontius Pilate (Michael Palin):

     Do you find it risible when I say the name, 'Biggus Dickus'?

   • 2024 May 1, Mel Holley, “Network News: New action from ASLEF to hit Bank Holiday services”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 14:

     Whelan called the offer "risible", describing it as a "land grab for all the terms and conditions we have negotiating over the years". He demanded a no-strings pay offer that recognises the "significant cost of living increases" since the last pay rise in 2019.

3. (of a person) Easily laughing; prone to laughter
   • 1674, Anonymous [Richard Allestree?], “Of Scoffing and Deriſion”, in The Government of the Tongue‎, At the Theater in Oxford, page 119:

     We are got indeed into a merry world, Laughing is our main buſiniſs; as if becauſe it has bin made part of the Definition of man, that he his Riſible, his man-hood conſiſted in nothing elſe.

   • 1897, Thomas Hardy, chapter 8, in The Well-Beloved:

     She was half risible, half concerned.

Synonyms

• (provoking laughter): funny, laughable, ludicrous

Related terms

• deridable
• derisible

Translations

pertaining to laughter

Bulgarian: смехови (smehovi) German: Lach- (in composite words) Italian: risibile (it) m Polish: śmiechowy Russian: смеховой (ru) (smexovoj) Spanish: risible (es)

provoking laughter

Bulgarian: смешен (bg) (smešen), смехотворен (smehotvoren) Czech: směšný (cs), humorný Finnish: naurettava (fi), hupaisa (fi), huvittava (fi) French: risible (fr) German: lachhaft Greek: Ancient Greek: γέλοιος (géloios) Irish: áiféiseach Italian: risibile (it) m Latin: rīsibilis Macedonian: смешно n (smešno) Polish: śmieszny (pl) Portuguese: risível (pt) Russian: смешной (ru) (smešnoj) Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: směšny Upper Sorbian: směšny Spanish: risible (es) Swedish: löjlig (sv), skrattretande (sv) Turkish: gülünç (tr) Welsh: chwerthinllyd (cy)

prone to laughter

Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can Czech: veselý (cs) German: lachlustig Polish: wesoły (pl) Russian: смешливый (ru) (smešlivyj)

Anagrams

• libries, birlies

Catalan

Adjective

risible m or f (masculine and feminine plural risibles)

1. laughable

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin rīsibilis, from rīdeō (“to laugh”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁi.zibl/

Adjective

risible (plural risibles)

1. risible, laughable

Derived terms

• risiblement

Related terms

• dérisoire
• ridicule
• rire

Further reading

• “risible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin rīsibilis, from rīdeō (“to laugh”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /riˈsible/ [riˈsi.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: ri‧si‧ble

Adjective

risible m or f (masculine and feminine plural risibles)

1. risible, laughable

Further reading

• “risible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024