laughingstock
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laughing stock
A person who is the subject of mockery after a blunder. If I mess up this speech, I'll be the laughing stock of the school!
make (someone, something, or oneself) a laughingstock
To subject someone or something to a mockery or ridicule; to make fun of someone or something. The president's decision to appoint TV personalities as her advisors has made our country a laughingstock of our country in front of the entire world. I felt I was making myself a laughingstock wearing such a silly costume in broad daylight.
See also: laughingstock, make
make a laughingstock of (someone, something, or oneself)
To subject someone or something to a mockery or ridicule; to make fun of someone or something. The president's decision to appoint TV personalities as her advisors has made a laughingstock of our country in front of the entire world. I felt I was making a laughingstock of myself, wearing such a silly costume in broad daylight.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
laughingstock
someone or something that is the target of ridicule. After he passed out at the president's dinner, he became the laughingstock of all his colleagues.
make a laughingstock of (oneself or something)
and make (oneself or something) a laughingstockto make oneself a source of ridicule or laughter; to do something that invites ridicule. Laura made herself a laughingstock by arriving at the fast-food restaurant in full evening dress. The board of directors made the company a laughingstock by hiring an ex-convict as president.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
make a laughingstock of
Lay open to ridicule, as in They made a laughingstock of the chairman by inviting him to the wrong meeting-place, or She felt she was making a laughingstock of herself, always wearing the wrong clothes for the occasion . The noun laughingstock replaced the earlier mockingstock and sportingstock, now obsolete. The idiom was first recorded in 1667.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
laughing stock
a person subjected to general mockery or ridicule.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017