hilarious

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin hilaris (“cheerful”) +‎ -ous, from Ancient Greek ἱλαρός (hilarós, “cheerful, merry”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /hɪˈlɛəɹiəs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /hɪˈlɛ(ə)ɹiəs/
• (New England) IPA^(key): /hɪˈlæɹiəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (New England, without the Mary–marry–merry merger):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛəɹiəs

Adjective

hilarious (comparative more hilarious, superlative most hilarious)

1. Very funny; causing great merriment and laughter.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:funny

   a hilarious joke

2. Full of hilarity; merry.
   • 1944, Douglas Stewart, A Girl with Red Hair, and Other Stories, page 60:

     Rounding up the animals in the misty paddocks, with the blackbirds singing as the morning whitened, he felt hilarious, light-headed. He'd clap the cows on their rumps and shout "Come along, there! Come along there, me Irish darlint."

   • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

     Cold Doctor Pell here refused a very considerable fee. He could on occasion behave handsomely; but I can't learn that blustering, hilarious Doctor Rogerson ever refused his.

Derived terms

• hilarity
• hilariously
• hilariousness

Related terms

• exhilarate
• exhilaration
• Hilary

Descendants

• → Cebuano: hilaryos

Translations

very funny; causing great merriment and laughter

• Arabic: مَرِح (mariḥ), مُضْحِك (muḍḥik)
• Basque: barregarri
• Belarusian: сме́шны (smjéšny), фацэ́тны (facétny) (colloquial)
• Bulgarian: весел (bg) (vesel)
• Catalan: hilarant
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 搞笑 (zh) (gǎoxiào)

• Czech: k popukání, legrační (cs)
• Danish: hylende morsom, hylemorsom
• Dutch: hilarisch (nl)
• Finnish: riemastuttava (fi), riemukas (fi), ratkiriemukas (fi)
• French: hilarant (fr)
• Galician: hilarante
• German: zum Totlachen, urkomisch, vergnügt (de), irrsinnig witzig
• Greek: ιλαρός (el) m (ilarós)
• Hebrew: מַצְחִיק m (mats'khík)
• Hungarian: pokolian/hihetetlenül/őrült vicces/mulatságos
• Interlingua: hilare
• Irish: fíorghreannmhar
• Italian: esilarante (it), spassoso (it)
• Japanese: ひどくおもしろい (hidoku omoshiroi), 面白おかしい (おもしろおかしい, omoshirookashii)
• Macedonian: урнебесен (urnebesen)
• Maori: pukukata
• Persian: خنده دار (fa), مضحک (fa)
• Polish: arcyśmieszny (pl), prześmieszny, arcyzabawny (pl), przezabawny (pl)
• Portuguese: hilário (pt), hilariante (pt)
• Romanian: ilar (ro) m or n, ilariant (ro) m or n
• Russian: умори́тельный (ru) (umorítelʹnyj), смешно́й (ru) (smešnój), поте́шный (ru) (potéšnyj), прико́льный (ru) (prikólʹnyj) (colloquial)
• Spanish: hilarante (es), descacharrante, desopilante (es) (rare)
• Sundanese: pikaseurieun
• Swedish: skrattretande (sv), obetalbar (sv)
• Ukrainian: смішни́й (smišnýj)