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hilarious

American  
[hi-lair-ee-uhs, -lar-, hahy-] / hɪˈlɛər i əs, -ˈlær-, haɪ- /

adjective

  1. arousing great merriment; extremely funny.

    a hilarious story; a hilarious old movie.

  2. boisterously merry or cheerful.

    a hilarious celebration.
    Synonyms:
    high-spirited, rollicking, jolly, lively
    Antonyms:
    solemn, serious, sad

  3. merry; cheerful.

hilarious British  
/ hɪˈlɛərɪəs /

adjective

  1. very funny or merry

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What does hilarious mean? Hilarious means extremely funny, like literally lol funny.Hilarious is most commonly used to describe someone or something (like a joke or a movie) as super funny. Much less commonly, it used to mean very merry or cheerful, as in a hilarious celebration.Example: The movie was absolutely hilarious—I was laughing so hard at one point that I was crying.

Other Word Forms

  • hilariously adverb
  • hilariousness noun
  • hyperhilarious adjective
  • hyperhilariously adverb
  • hyperhilariousness noun
  • unhilarious adjective
  • unhilariously adverb
  • unhilariousness noun

Etymology

Origin of hilarious

1815–25; < Latin hilar ( is ), hilar ( us ) cheerful (< Greek hilarós ) + -ious

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.