different between laugh vs insult
laugh
English
Alternative forms
- laff (eye dialect)
- laughe (archaic)
- larf (Cockney eye dialect)
Etymology
From Middle English laughen, laghen, from (Anglian) Old English hlæhhan, hlehhan, (West Saxon) hliehhan, from Proto-West Germanic *hlahhjan, from Proto-Germanic *hlahjan?.
Pronunciation
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /la?f/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /l??f/
- (General American) enPR: l?f, IPA(key): /læf/
- Rhymes: -??f, -æf
Noun
laugh (plural laughs)
- An expression of mirth particular to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter.
- 1803, Oliver Goldsmith, The Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith, M.B.: With an Account of His Life, page 45:
- And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind.
- 1869, F. W. Robertson, Lectures and Addresses on Literary and Social Topics, page 87:
- That man is a bad man who has not within him the power of a hearty laugh.
- 1803, Oliver Goldsmith, The Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith, M.B.: With an Account of His Life, page 45:
- Something that provokes mirth or scorn.
- 1921, Ring Lardner, The Big Town: How I and the Mrs. Go to New York to See Life and Get Katie a Husband, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, page 73:
- “And this rug,” he says, stomping on an old rag carpet. “How much do you suppose that cost?” ¶ It was my first guess, so I said fifty dollars. ¶ “That’s a laugh,” he said. “I paid two thousand for that rug.”
- 1979, Monty Python, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
- Life's a piece of shit / When you look at it / Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.
- 1921, Ring Lardner, The Big Town: How I and the Mrs. Go to New York to See Life and Get Katie a Husband, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, page 73:
- (Britain, New Zealand) A fun person.
- 2010, The Times, March 14, 2010, Tamzin Outhwaite, the unlikely musical star
- Outhwaite is a good laugh, yes, she knows how to smile: but deep down, she really is strong and stern.
- 2010, The Times, March 14, 2010, Tamzin Outhwaite, the unlikely musical star
Synonyms
- (expression of mirth): cackle, chortle, chuckle, giggle, guffaw, snicker, snigger, titter, cachinnation
- (something that provokes mirth or scorn): joke, laughing stock
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
laugh (third-person singular simple present laughs, present participle laughing, simple past and past participle laughed)
- (intransitive) To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and eyes, and usually accompanied by the emission of explosive or chuckling sounds from the chest and throat; to indulge in laughter.
- 1899, Stephen Crane, Twelve O’Clock:
- The roars of laughter which greeted his proclamation were of two qualities; some men laughing because they knew all about cuckoo-clocks, and other men laughing because they had concluded that the eccentric Jake had been victimised by some wise child of civilisation.
- 1979, Monty Python, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life:
- If life seems jolly rotten / There's something you've forgotten / And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
- 1899, Stephen Crane, Twelve O’Clock:
- (intransitive, figuratively, obsolete) To be or appear cheerful, pleasant, mirthful, lively, or brilliant; to sparkle; to sport.
- (intransitive, followed by "at") To make an object of laughter or ridicule; to make fun of; to deride; to mock.
- 1967, The Beatles, Penny Lane:
- On the corner is a banker with a motorcar / The little children laugh at him behind his back
- 1967, The Beatles, Penny Lane:
- (transitive) To affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule.
- (transitive) To express by, or utter with, laughter.
- 1866, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 8, in Behind a Mask, or A Woman’s Power:
- Fairfax addressed her as "my lady," she laughed her musical laugh, and glanced up at a picture of Gerald with eyes full of exultation.
- 1906, Jack London, Moon-Face:
- "You refuse to take me seriously," Lute said, when she had laughed her appreciation. "How can I take that Planchette rigmarole seriously?"
- 1866, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 8, in Behind a Mask, or A Woman’s Power:
Conjugation
Usage notes
The simple past tense forms laught, laugh'd and low and the past participles laught, laugh'd and laughen also exist, but are obsolete.
Synonyms
- (show mirth by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face): cackle, chortle, chuckle, giggle, guffaw, snicker, snigger, titter
- See also Thesaurus:laugh
Antonyms
- (show mirth by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face): cry, weep
Coordinate terms
- (show mirth by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face): cry, frown, scowl, smile
Derived terms
Related terms
- laughster
- laughter
Translations
Note: the following were in a translation table for "be or appear gay", which, given the modern meanings, is misleading; the title of this table has now been changed to "be or appear cheerful". The translations therefore need to be checked.
- Slovene: (please verify) nasmejan (biti)
See also
- comedy
- gelotology
- funny
- ha ha
- tee hee, tee hee hee
Anagrams
- Aghul
Middle English
Noun
laugh
- Alternative form of lawe
laugh From the web:
- what laughing gas
- what laughing does to your body
- what laughs in minecraft
- what laughter means
- what laughter does to the brain
- what laughs a lot
- what laughing gas feels like
- what laughing gif
insult
English
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle French insulter (modern French insulter (“to insult”)) or its etymon Latin ?nsult?re, present active infinitive of ?nsult? (“to spring, leap or jump at or upon; to abuse, insult, revile, taunt”), the frequentative form of ?nsili? (“to bound; to leap in or upon”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + sali? (“to bound, jump, leap; to spring forth; to flow down”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to spring”)).
The noun is derived from Middle French insult (modern French insulte (“insult”)) or its etymon Late Latin insultus (“insult, reviling, scoffing”), from ?nsili? (“to bound; to leap in or upon”); see above.
Pronunciation
- Verb:
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: ?ns?lt?, IPA(key): /?n?s?lt/
- Noun:
- enPR: ?n?s?lt, IPA(key): /??ns?lt/
- Rhymes: -?lt
- Hyphenation: in?sult
Verb
insult (third-person singular simple present insults, present participle insulting, simple past and past participle insulted)
- (transitive) To be insensitive, insolent, or rude to (somebody); to affront or demean (someone). [from 17th c.]
- Synonyms: disrespect, affront, disgrace, slander, discourtesy, offense
- Antonym: compliment
- (transitive, also figuratively, obsolete) To assail, assault, or attack; (specifically, military) to carry out an assault, attack, or onset without preparation.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To behave in an obnoxious and superior manner (against or over someone). [16th–19th c.]
- (intransitive, obsolete, rare) To leap or trample upon.
Conjugation
Related terms
- insolence
- insultation
Translations
Noun
insult (countable and uncountable, plural insults)
- (uncountable) Action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude; (countable) a particular act or statement having this effect.
- Synonyms: affront, (slang) diss, (obsolete) insultation, (Britain) offence, (US) offense, pejorative, (US, colloquial) slam, slight, slur; see also Thesaurus:offense
- Antonym: compliment
- (countable) Something that causes offence (for example, by being of an unacceptable quality).
- Synonyms: disgrace, outrage
- (countable, medicine) Something causing disease or injury to the body or bodily processes; the injury so caused.
- (countable, also figuratively, archaic) An assault or attack; (specifically, military, obsolete) an assault, attack, or onset carried out without preparation.
- (countable, obsolete) An act of leaping upon.
Derived terms
- add insult to injury
Translations
References
Further reading
- insult on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- insult (medical) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- insult (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- sunlit, unlist, unslit
Catalan
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /in?sul(t)/
Noun
insult m (plural insults)
- insult
Related terms
- insultar
Further reading
- “insult” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [in?sult]
Verb
insult
- first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of insulta
insult From the web:
- what insulting remark is made to jordan
- what insult means
- what insult to france led to war
- what insult starts with e
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