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PlainSpell

laugh

UK /lɑːf/noun, verb

laugh is spelled L-A-U-G-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, laugh means “An expression of mirth particular to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of laugh is laughs.

How many letters and syllables are in laugh?

Letters5: L-A-U-G-H
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing46 times per million words; the 2,204th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is laugh?

Laugh appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce laugh?

  • Australia /lɐːf/
  • UK /lɑːf/
  • /laf/

Laugh has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-laugh.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with laugh

Also written: laff.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with laugh?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as laugh from its last stressed vowel (/ɑf/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of laugh

  • laughs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • laff
  • laughe
  • larf
  • laughing participle, present
  • laughed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does laugh mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    An expression of mirth particular to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter.

    His deep laughs boomed through the room.

  2. 2

    Something that provokes mirth or scorn.

    Your new hat's an absolute laugh, dude.

  3. 3

    UKA fun person.

    a good laugh

verb

  1. 1

    To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and eyes, and usually accompanied by the emission of explosive or chuckling sounds from the chest and throat; to indulge in laughter.

    There were many laughing children running on the school grounds.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo be or appear cheerful, pleasant, mirthful, lively, or brilliant; to sparkle; to sport.

  3. 3

    To make an object of laughter or ridicule; to make fun of; to deride; to mock.

    Don't laugh at my new hat, man!

  4. 4

    To affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule.

  5. 5

    To express by, or utter with, laughter.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate laugh?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of laugh: LLL.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Laugh in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchrire (expression of mirth peculiar to the human…), se rire de, se moquer de (make an object of laughter or ridicule)
GermanLachen, Lache (expression of mirth peculiar to the human…), auslachen (make an object of laughter or ridicule), lachen, lache (show mirth by peculiar movement of the muscles…)
Portugueseriso, risada (expression of mirth peculiar to the human…), zoar (make an object of laughter or ridicule), rir (show mirth by peculiar movement of the muscles…), sarro (something that provokes mirth or scorn), jubilar (be or appear cheerful)
Spanishrisa, risica (expression of mirth peculiar to the human…), reírse de (make an object of laughter or ridicule), reír (show mirth by peculiar movement of the muscles…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does laugh come from?

From Middle English laughen, laghen, from (Anglian) Old English hlæhhan, hlehhan, (West Saxon) hliehhan, from Proto-West Germanic *hlahhjan, from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after laugh