laughingstock
laughingstock — 名詞
1. A person or thing that many people make unkind jokes about and openly mock, ofte
笑柄
被眾人嘲笑的人或事物
A person or thing that many people make unkind jokes about and openly mock, often because of a mistake, failure, or embarrassing quality.
Felipe became the laughingstock of the office after his phone rang during the boss's speech.
Felipe 在老闆演講時手機鈴聲響起,從此成了全辦公室的笑柄。
become the laughingstock of [group] — passive victim pattern
The mayor's plan to build a bridge to an empty island made him a national laughingstock.
市長計劃在一個無人島上蓋橋,這使他成為全國的笑柄。
made someone a laughingstock — active (expose to ridicule)
Iris worried her outfit would make her a laughingstock on her first day at school.
Iris 擔心自己的衣著會讓她在開學第一天成為笑柄。
The team's embarrassing loss turned them into a laughingstock among local fans.
那支球隊慘敗之後成了當地球迷間的笑柄。
- figure of fun
more British, slightly lighter tone — suggests teasing rather than cruel mockery
- object of ridicule
very similar but more formal; prefers 'object of ridicule to/among' rather than 'a laughingstock of'
- butt of jokes
focuses specifically on being the target of jokes, not necessarily broader mockery or shame
- mockery
abstract uncountable noun ('His career was a mockery'); not directly interchangeable as a countable person-noun
- role model
someone admired and looked up to, the opposite of being mocked
- hero
someone celebrated for achievements, contrasted with someone ridiculed for failures
文法句型
be/become a laughingstock
make a laughingstock of someone
用法筆記
This noun is almost always used in the singular. Common in passive constructions that describe how a group perceives someone (e.g. 'was made a laughingstock', 'became a laughingstock'). The preposition 'of' or 'among' introduces the community doing the mocking.