What does laugher mean?
A laugher is a person who laughs, especially someone who laughs readily, loudly, or in response to something amusing. The word focuses attention on the individual participant rather than on the laughter itself: a person may be a frequent laugher, a big laugher, or the first person to laugh in a theatre. It is common in general English, including news reports, descriptions of performances, and informal conversation, and can carry a mildly humorous or observational tone. Although laughter refers more often to the act, sound, or collective expression of amusement, a laugher is the person doing the laughing. The term is especially useful when describing someone whose reactions form part of a scene or reveal the comic effect of an event.
nounA person who laughs, especially someone who laughs often or loudly.
- A person who laughs, especially someone who laughs often or loudly.
"She was the first laugher in the audience when the comedian began his routine."
"The unexpected reply made the whole room burst into laughter, and he was the biggest laugher of all."
"The play was designed to be a laugher, with jokes landing reliably throughout the first act."
The plural is formed by adding -s to the noun.
"The audience included several enthusiastic laughers."
A laugher names the person, while laughter names the sound: one person can produce a great deal of laughter.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does laugher come from?
The word is formed from the English root laugh and the agent-forming suffix -er, meaning a person who performs the action. Laugh and its relatives, including laughter and laughable, continue forms associated with Old English hlæhhan, a Germanic word inherited through English. The modern form laugher reflects the productive English pattern of creating an agent noun from a verb.
Related word forms
How laugher is actually used
Usually neutral in register, though it can suggest someone whose amusement is conspicuous, habitual, or especially loud. The compound-like expression 'big laugher' is common in informal English.
Easily confused with laugher
A laugher is a person who laughs, whereas laughter is the act or sound of laughing.