- 1
If something is laughable, it is so bad, so silly, or so wrong that you cannot take it seriously. The key thing: this is not warm laughter. A funny joke is not laughable — a funny joke is funny.
If something is laughable如果某件事是laughable，it is so bad, so silly, or so wrong它糟糕、愚蠢，或錯得離譜，that you cannot take it seriously讓你沒辦法把它當真。The key thing關鍵是：this is not warm laughter這不是溫暖的笑。A funny joke is not laughable好笑的笑話不是laughable——a funny joke is funny好笑的笑話就只是funny（好笑）。
Laughable is what you say about the excuse that nobody believes, the offer that is far too low, the safety plan that would protect nobody. It means "this is a joke", and it is an insult.
Laughable is what you say about the excuse that nobody believeslaughable是你用來形容沒人相信的藉口、the offer that is far too low低得離譜的出價，或the safety plan that would protect nobody保護不了任何人的安全計畫。It means "this is a joke"它的意思是"this is a joke"（這根本是個笑話），and it is an insult而且帶有侮辱的意味。
So people mostly use it about things: a laughable excuse, a laughable amount of money, a laughable attempt. You can also say a person's behaviour or an argument is laughable, which is strong criticism.
So people mostly use it about things所以大家大多用它來形容事情：a laughable excuse, a laughable amount of money, a laughable attempt像laughable excuse（可笑的藉口）、laughable amount of money（少得可笑的金額）、laughable attempt（可笑的嘗試）。You can also say a person's behaviour or an argument is laughable你也可以說一個人的行為或一個論點是laughable，which is strong criticism這是很重的批評。
There is a second, older and softer use where laughable simply means "causing laughter", but that use is rare now, and if you use the word today people will hear the critical meaning. It feels a bit formal or written — in speech people are more likely to say "that's ridiculous" or "that's a joke".
There is a second, older and softer use還有第二種比較舊、比較溫和的用法，where laughable simply means "causing laughter"那時候laughable單純是指"causing laughter"（引人發笑），but that use is rare now但這種用法現在很少見，and if you use the word today people will hear the critical meaning而且如果你現在用這個字，大家聽到的會是批評的意思。It feels a bit formal or written這個字感覺有點正式、偏書面——in speech people are more likely to say "that's ridiculous" or "that's a joke"口語裡大家比較會說"that's ridiculous"或"that's a joke"。
組成laugh + -able. The -able ending here means "able to be laughed at", like readable (able to be read). The verb laugh goes back through Middle English laughen to Old English hlæhhan and further back to a Germanic word that imitated the sound of laughing. The -able ending came into English from Old French, from Latin -ābilis.
同家族的字
- laughtersame laugh root, with an old noun ending
- readablesame -able ending: able to be read
- laughingstocksame laugh root — a person everyone laughs at
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
laughableadj/ˈlaːfəbl̩/
- 1
archaicFitted to excite laughter; humorous.
- At this our first dinner at the Government House a very laughable incident occurred.
- 2
Worthless; worthy of contempt or derision.
- It would be difficult, for example, to imagine a bigger, more obvious subject for comedy than the laughable self-delusion of washed-up celebrities, especially if the washed-up celebrity in question is Adam West, a camp icon who can go toe to toe with William Shatner as the king of winking self-parody.
- “Maybe it made them feel better about their lives that a young prince’s life was laughable. Never mind that my mother didn’t meet Major Hewitt until long after I was born,” he wrote.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。