laughinglyadv.
/ˈlɑːfɪŋli/, /ˈlafɪŋli/, U.S. /ˈlæfɪŋli/ 1. In a laughing manner; with laughter.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > [adverb]
laughinglyc1475
c1475 (c1450) P. Idley Instr. to his Son (Cambr.) (1935) ii. B. 815 Iudas..Laughynglie kyssed hym and loued hym nought.
1538 J. Berkynsaw Let. 19 July in Lisle Papers (P.R.O.: SP 3/2/30) f. 44 Howbehytt ytt was don laghyngly and meryly.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 1699/2 For (sayth he laughingly) his Chapleyne gaue him counsell not to strike me with his Crosierstaffe, for that I would strike agayne.
a1640 W. Fenner Pract. Divinitie (1647) 39 You shall hear many an old man tell what prettie pranks..he played in his youth, and he tells it laughingly, which is a signe that he is self-conceited.
1662 J. Chandler True Relation Unjust Proc. against Quakers 12 One of the Justices..said, smilingly or laughingly, And ye cannot swear at all.
1749 D. Garrick Let. 3 Aug. (1963) I. 108 Some say laughingly, that this is publish'd by herself.
1794 H. L. Piozzi Diary 21 Mar. in Thraliana (1942) II. 872 They told me laughingly yet half in earnest..that there was room for no more.
1825 W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1826) I. 112 Laughingly, he taunted them.
1894 G. M. Fenn In Alpine Valley II. 139 To take troubles laughingly.
1926 J. Devanny Butcher Shop xi. 112 Margaret declared laughingly to Barry that the house was getting fairly cluttered up with babies.
1989 E. Hoffman Lost in Transl. (1991) iii. 234 ‘How is Alinka?’ he asks laughingly, because they used to have a childish flirtation going, ‘is she married yet?’
2005 Weekly World News 15 Aug. 6 The two boys played laughingly.
2. In a laughable manner; = laughably adv.
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
1843 Congress. Globe 19 Jan. 159/1 If the scheme were not too laughingly absurd to spend time in arguing about it seriously.
1869 J. L. Peyton Over Alleghanies xi. 190 ‘The little stuck-up great man’..shows himself off in colours more laughingly ridiculous than elsewhere.
1954 W. Lewis Self Condemned xi. 181 If you were a ‘wine-hound’ you could have what in Canada is laughingly called wine.
1990 Industry Week 5 Nov. 56/3 He has upped the ante so that fines are no longer laughingly small.
2008 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 5 Apr. 50 We began to think of investment opportunities in what is laughingly referred to these days as The Developing World.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.c1475