Hilarious means extremely funny, making everyone roar with laughter. Absolutely hilarious, a hilarious scene, found it hilarious.
It is at the top of the funny range and it is about the effect on a room rather than on one person. Note that it once meant merely cheerful — the Latin hilaris means glad — and that exhilarating comes from the same root, which is why the two words look alike and mean such different things.
1adjectivehilariousExtremely funny.
“The film was absolutely hilarious; we couldn't stop laughing.”
synonyms: uproarious, side-splitting
hilarious is a quality of funniness.
Latin hilaris means cheerful, from Greek hilaros, glad. Exhilarate comes from the same cheerfulness.
Ancient Greek
ἱλαρός — cheerful, merry
Latin
hilaris — cheerful
English, today
hilarious
Latin hilaris (“cheerful”) ious, from Ancient Greek ἱλαρός (“cheerful, merry”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA