ludicrous : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: ludicrous	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for ludicrous
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
ludicrous adj broadly or extravagantly humorous; resembling farce; "the wild farcical exuberance of a clown"; "ludicrous green hair" Synonym(s): farcical, ludicrous, ridiculous incongruous;inviting ridicule; "the absurd excuse that the dog ate his homework"; "that's a cockeyed idea"; "ask a nonsensical question and get a nonsensical answer"; "a contribution so small as to be laughable"; "it is ludicrous to call a cottage a mansion"; "a preposterous attempt to turn back the pages of history"; "her conceited assumption of universal interest in her rather dull children was ridiculous" Synonym(s): absurd, cockeyed, derisory, idiotic, laughable, ludicrous, nonsensical, preposterous, ridiculous
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Ludicrous \Lu"dicrous\, a. [L. ludicrus, or ludicer, from ludus play, sport, fr. ludere to play.] Adapted to excite laughter, without scorn or contempt; sportive. --Broome. A chapter upon German rhetoric would be in the same ludicrous* predicament as Van Troil's chapter on the snakes of Iceland, which delivers its business in one summary sentence, announcing, that snakes in Iceland -- there are none. --De Quincey. Syn: Laughable; sportive; burlesque; comic; droll; ridiculous. Usage: {Ludicrous}, {Laughable}, {Ridiculous}. We speak of a thing as ludicrous when it tends to produce laughter; as laughable when the impression is somewhat stronger; as ridiculous when more or less contempt is mingled with the merriment created. -- {Lu"dicrously}, adv. -- {Lu"dicrousness}, n.