Crossword clues for risible
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Risible \Ris"i*ble\, a. [F., fr. L. risibilis, fr. ridere, risum, to laugh. Cf. Ridiculous.]
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Having the faculty or power of laughing; disposed to laugh.
Laughing is our busines, . . . it has been made the definition of man that he is risible.
--Dr. H. More. -
Exciting laughter; worthy to be laughed at; amusing. ``Risible absurdities.''
--Johnson.I hope you find nothing risible in my complaisance.
--Sir W. Scott. -
Used in, or expressing, laughter; as, risible muscles.
Note: Risible is sometimes used as a noun, in the plural, for the feeling of amusement and for the muscles and other organs used in laughing, collectively; as, unable to control one's risibles.
Syn: Ludicrous; laughable; amusing; ridiculous -- Risible, Ludicrous, Ridiculous.
Usage: Risible differs from ludicrous as species from genus; ludicrous expressing that which is playful and sportive; risible, that which may excite laughter. Risible differs from ridiculous, as the latter implies something contemptuous, and risible does not. [1913 Webster]
-- Ris"i*ble*ness, n. -- Ris"i*bly, adv.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1550s, "given to laughter," from Middle French risible (14c.) and directly from Late Latin risibilis "laughable, able to laugh," from Latin risus, past participle of ridere "to laugh." Meaning "capable of exciting laughter, comical" is from 1727.
Wiktionary
a. 1 Of or pertaining to laughter 2 provoke laughter; ludicrous; ridiculous; humorously insignificant 3 (context of a person English) Easily laughing; prone to laughter
WordNet
adj. arousing or provoking laughter; "an amusing film with a steady stream of pranks and pratfalls"; "an amusing fellow"; "a comic hat"; "a comical look of surprise"; "funny stories that made everybody laugh"; "a very funny writer"; "it would have been laughable if it hadn't hurt so much"; "a mirthful experience"; "risible courtroom antics" [syn: amusing, comic, comical, funny, laughable, mirthful]
Usage examples of "risible".
Then the idea of returning, of feeling his own body, of leaping up and screaming with joy, opened in him with risible insistence.
The risible husk of her logic rang with a laugh she was too scared to voice.
But, of course, nearly every custom, no matter how risible, has its good points.
Observing it from the outside, love seems to them to be a risible pathology.
It is the first thing struck in us when we land on the Continent: our risible faculties are generally active all through the tour.
My own wait was made risible by the nature of the shop in which I was taking an intent interest.
For these ineluctable modalities of the risible, you must be as well trained and prepared as your uncles Giotto, Algardi, Donatello and Salviati have made you for the actual exercise of your art itself.
Sometimes he could be found on the streetcorners, handing out copies of his latest tract to all who would accept them an eccentric, vaguely risible figure, hungry for something or other, one of the familiar cranks of Rat Town.
As for Arthur, the scene was too much for his risible nerves, and he fairly roared with laughter, whilst even Lady Bellamy went as near to it as she ever did.
He found the invidious accusations of his fellow Bashkir almost as risible as their prevarications.
If the Super Sleepless could deliver the first syringes, goes this risible theology, then they can just as well go deliver another miracle that makes all the grubby little Livers go on forever.
The Emperor had ordered that Massena was to be given 130,000 men for the invasion, but less than half that number had assembled on the frontier and when Massena had pleaded for more men, the Emperor had sent a message that his present forces were adequate, that the enemy was risible and the task of invading Portugal easy.
Along the way, of course, there have been films that broke these molds, including several biopics about Christ, most of them risible, notably Nicholas Ray's horrid King of Kings (1961), which the late writer and critic James Agee suggested should be retitled I Was a Teenage Jesus.
Risible because Rubenesque blonds probably ought not to squeeze themselves into sausage casings, even for the president of the United States.