laughing stock

• laughingstock, laughing-stock

From laughing +‎ stock (“source, supply; butt, target”). Compare also whipping-stock, jesting-stock.

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laughing stock (plural laughing stocks)

1. (idiomatic) An object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; the butt of a joke.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     Pray you let us not be
     laughing-stocks to other men's humours.

   • 1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:

     When he talked, he talked nonsense, and made himself the laughing-stock of his hearers.

   • 2004 September 12, Judy Battista, “Pro Football: NFL Matchups, Week 1”, in New York Times, retrieved 19 April 2009:

     If anyone can restore dignity to a franchise that has been close to a laughing stock in the last few years, it's Gibbs.

   • 2019 February 19, Annie Cohen, 'Yes, There’s Anti-Semitism In Labour. No, Those Politicians Didn’t Quit Over It.', The Forward (retrieved 21 February 2019):

     The split was supposedly triggered by racism — specifically anti-Jewish racism. But on this front, the Independent Group have already become a laughingstock.

   • 2020 December 2, Andy Byford talks to Paul Clifton, “I enjoy really big challenges...”, in Rail, page 54:

     Toronto Transit Corporation had real issues. [...] My boss was removed in a coup three months after my arrival. I stood in and my learning curve went through the roof. Over five years, we went from being a laughing stock to winning awards.

• See also Thesaurus:laughingstock