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Meaning & use

funny

adjective·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ˈfʌni/
US/ˈfʌni/

Meanings

  1. adjectivecomparable

    Causing laughter or amusement.

    Grammar: Works before a noun or after be: a funny joke, the joke was funny.

    Patterns

    • funny to someone
    • it is funny that ...

    The movie was so funny that we cried laughing.

    He told a funny story about his dog.

    Nobody found the joke funny.

  2. adjectivecomparableinformal

    Strange or hard to explain.

    Grammar: Often with a mild sense of puzzlement: a funny noise.

    Patterns

    • funny that ...
    • something funny about something

    There is a funny smell in the kitchen.

    It is funny that she never mentioned it.

    Something funny is going on in that house.

  3. adjectiveafter a verbinformal

    Feeling slightly ill or uneasy.

    Grammar: Used with feel or look: I feel funny.

    Patterns

    • feel funny

    I felt funny after the long boat ride.

    He looks a bit funny; is he sick?

    The soup made my stomach feel funny.

  4. adjectivebefore a nouninformal

    Dishonest or suspicious, as in funny business.

    Grammar: Fixed with business or money: funny business.

    Patterns

    • funny business
    • funny money

    The police suspected some funny business with the accounts.

    No funny business while I am gone.

    The deal had a whiff of funny money.

Word forms

comparativefunnier
superlativefunniest

Common combinations

funny story
She told us a funny story about her first job.
funny peculiar
Funny peculiar, not funny ha-ha.
funny thing
The funny thing is that we both forgot.
funny feeling
I have a funny feeling about this.
funny bone
He hit his funny bone on the door.
funny business
The inspector watched for funny business.

Synonyms and how they differ

amusing
Amusing is milder and slightly more formal, causing a smile rather than a laugh.
hilarious
Hilarious is much stronger and means extremely funny.
odd
Odd covers the strange meaning of funny without any link to humor.
comical
Comical suggests something looks ridiculous or silly in a way that causes laughter.

Opposites

serioussolemnunfunny

Word family

funnily adverb
in an amusing or odd way
funniness noun
the quality of being funny
fun noun
enjoyment or amusement
funnies noun
comic strips in a newspaper

Commonly confused: funny or fun?

funny vs fun

Fun means enjoyable, while funny means causing laughter or being odd; a fun party is not always a funny one.

Practice

He said the meeting was a bit ____, because the director left without explanation and nobody laughed.

Make it your own

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