Ridiculous

How to spell ridiculous

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce ridiculous

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ridiculous mean?

1. adjectiveSo absurd or unreasonable as to deserve mockery.

Ridiculous in a sentence

• The queue for the parking permit was ridiculous given how few spaces remained.

• Paying that much for a basic hotel room seemed utterly ridiculous.

Where does ridiculous come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin ridiculus, meaning 'laughable' or 'worthy of being laughed at', which was built on the verb ridere, 'to laugh'. English adopted it in the sixteenth century, keeping the sense of something so absurd that it invites mockery. The same ridere root gives us 'deride' (to laugh down at someone), 'derision', and the rarer 'risible'. A useful spelling clue lives in that origin: the word is built on 'ridicul-' from ridiculus, so the middle is spelled with a single 'd' and 'cul', not the 'rediculous' that many writers slip into. The mismatch between the spelling 'ri-' and the relaxed way the first syllable is spoken is exactly what makes it a common adult error.

How the word is built

• ridicul- (from Latin ridiculus: laughable, from ridere 'to laugh')
• -ous (adjective suffix: full of)