laughablyadv.
/ˈlɑːfəbli/, /ˈlafəbli/, U.S. /ˈlæfəbli/ In a laughable manner; ludicrously, absurdly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > absurdity, incongruity > [adverb]
stultitiously1536
preposterously?c1550
absurdly1559
ridiculously1563
fore-backwardlya1586
nonsensically1648
ad absurdum1656
nonsensely1656
fancifully1664
laughably1763
ridiculous1827
laughingly1843
dottily1937
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > fact or condition of being mocked or ridiculed > [adverb]
ridiculously1563
grotesquely1740
laughably1763
ridiculous1827
ludicrously1844
pathetically1937
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [adverb] > so as to cause laughter
laughably1763
1763 J. Boswell Jrnl. 1 Oct. in F. A. Pottle Boswell in Holland (1952) 38 You spoke too much of yourself and too laughably of Dominus Trotz.
1770 F. Gentleman Dramatic Censor I. 321 The last speech carries off the friends laughably.
1815 Countess Granville Let. 1 Aug. (1894) I. 68 She follows and watches him quite laughably.
1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad xxvi. 269 The dress of the men is laughably grotesque.
1941 M. A. De Ford They were San Franciscans vii. 202 A revolution in the United States in 1877 was laughably impossible.
1984 G. Jennings Journeyer (1988) 159 The merchant had..set the price at a laughably few copper shahis.
2006 Daily Tel. 17 Jan. (Business section) 6/2 Newspaper owners had been talking about introducing what was laughably called ‘new technology’ for years.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1763