ludicrous

English

WOTD – 19 February 2008    

Etymology

First attested in 1619. From Latin lūdicrus, from lūdō (“play”).

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈluː.dɪ.krəs/, /ˈljuː.dɪ.krəs/, X-SAMPA: /"lu:.dI.kr@s/
• (US) IPA: /ˈluː.dɪ.krəs/

• Audio (UK)

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• Audio (US)

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Adjective

ludicrous (comparative more ludicrous, superlative most ludicrous)

1. Idiotic or unthinkable, often to the point of being funny.

   He made a ludicrous attempt to run for office.

Synonyms

• (idiotic or unthinkable): laughable, ridiculous

Translations

idiotic or unthinkable, often to the point of being funny

• Catalan: ridícul (ca)
• Finnish: älytön (fi), absurdi (fi), järjetön (fi), idioottimainen (fi), naurettava (fi)
• French: absurde (fr)
• German: aberwitzig (de)
• Hebrew: מגוחך (he) (megoḥaḥ) m
• Hungarian: nevetséges (hu)
• Indonesian: konyol (id)
• Italian: ridicolo (it)

• Norwegian: latterlig (no)
• Polish: idiotyczny (pl) m, niedorzeczny (pl) m, absurdalny (pl) m, groteskowy (pl) m
• Russian: нелепый (ru) (nelépyj), абсурдный (ru) (absúrdnyj), смехотворный (ru) (smexotvórnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: amaideach (gd)
• Spanish: irrisorio (es), absurdo (es), ridiculo (es)
• Swedish: löjlig (sv), skrattretande (sv), absurd (sv)

Related terms

• (idiotic or unthinkable): ludicrously, ludicrousness