as in laughter
an explosive sound that is a sign of amusement
humorous anecdotes that are likely to evoke lots of smiles but few belly laughs
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of belly laugh
Without a talented ad agency behind you, a good rule of thumb is to go for clever humor that makes people smile or chuckle instead of trying for a side-splitting belly laugh.
—
Expert Panel®, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
Morrison misses his late partner’s gigantic belly laugh that would engulf everything in its orbit.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2024
Nothing was off-limits in Mad, a newsstand stalwart that would reach peak annual sales in the 1970s of 2.5 million issues by delivering belly laughs and self-satisfaction to America’s class clowns through cartoons, parodies, sarcastic characters and an unending stream of gross-out gags.
—Patrick Sauer, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Sep. 2024
Just try your best to separate big belly laughs from bites of food, and save the call to mom for when you’re entirely finished eating.
—Julia Sullivan, SELF, 9 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for belly laugh 
Expert Panel®, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
Morrison misses his late partner’s gigantic belly laugh that would engulf everything in its orbit.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2024
Nothing was off-limits in Mad, a newsstand stalwart that would reach peak annual sales in the 1970s of 2.5 million issues by delivering belly laughs and self-satisfaction to America’s class clowns through cartoons, parodies, sarcastic characters and an unending stream of gross-out gags.
—Patrick Sauer, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Sep. 2024
Just try your best to separate big belly laughs from bites of food, and save the call to mom for when you’re entirely finished eating.
—Julia Sullivan, SELF, 9 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for belly laugh
Recent Examples of Synonyms for belly laugh
Noun
-
Because of that, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy feels like meeting with old friends: warm, cozy, and filled with hysterical laughter.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
14 Feb. 2025
-
Ford decided to mouth his last name at the end, a decision that caused observers to break out in laughter.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
10 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
People really get a good giggle out of it, so that’s good.—
Todd Gilchrist,
Variety,
14 Feb. 2025
-
Both scholars judged the Bible a fraud and hatched a plan to disprove it-just for giggles.—
Dan Miller,
Twin Cities,
6 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The middle-school laughs made Isaiah Stewart feel uneasy.—
Hunter Patterson,
The Athletic,
17 Feb. 2025
-
The biggest laughs were earned by Murphy, who did an impression of Morgan, while Morgan played a man named Darius and Jones played a woman named Shanice.—
Selome Hailu,
Variety,
17 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
League sources stifle their snickers in public while privately marveling at the owner’s ceaseless stupidity. 3.—
Jeff Howe,
The Athletic,
24 Jan. 2025
-
So he must be placed in the Apparition section, next to ghosts like John Barron, sharing a snicker with Ivana.—
Greg Marotta,
New York Daily News,
12 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near belly laugh
Cite this Entry
“Belly laugh.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/belly%20laugh. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share