If you say that a person or an organization has become alaughing stock, you mean that they are supposed to be important or serious but have been made to seem ridiculous.
The truth must never get out. If it did she would be a laughing-stock.
...his policies became the laughing stock of the financial community. [+ of]
Synonyms: figure of fun, target, victim, butt More Synonyms of laughing stock
laughing stock in British English
or laughingstock (ˈlɑːfɪŋˌstɒk)
noun
an object of humiliating ridicule
his mistakes have made him a laughing stock
Examples of 'laughing stock' in a sentence
laughing stock
`I think it's about time someone talked straight to you because you're going to end up making this town a laughing stock.
Leeson, Robert THE THIRD CLASS GENIE
(noun)
Definition
a person or thing that is treated with ridicule
His politics became the laughing stock of the financial community.
Synonyms
figure of fun
target
In the past they have been the targets of some immature verbal abuse.
victim
butt
He is still the butt of cruel jokes about his humble origins.
fair game
Aunt Sally (British)
everybody's fool
Additional synonyms
in the sense of butt
Definition
a person or thing that is the target of ridicule or teasing
He is still the butt of cruel jokes about his humble origins.
Synonyms
target,
victim,
object,
point,
mark,
subject,
dupe,
laughing stock,
Aunt Sally
in the sense of target
Definition
a person or thing at which criticism or ridicule is directed
In the past they have been the targets of some immature verbal abuse.