💀 A violent death 💰 A big profit 😂 Extremely funny

killing

2 5.8

So funny that people laugh a lot

adjective
/ˈkɪlɪŋ/

Informal

: hilarante

The comedian's new routine was absolutely killing; the audience couldn't stop laughing.

He's almost all new from the Adulting Special, and it's killing, but it'll just get it.

Examples

That joke about the chicken crossing the road was killing—everyone was in stitches.
Her impersonation of the celebrity was so killing that it brought the whole room to tears of joy.
It's like, yeah, have the knees bent a little bit and ready, but yeah, killing it, right?

Synonyms

sidesplitting

vskilling

Informal

1 5.6

So funny that people laugh loudly

causes strong amusement without necessarily loud laughter

Antonyms

serious

∞ 1.4

Calm and focused, not playful or joking

unfunny

9 4.2

Does not make people laugh when meant as a joke

Idioms

you're killing me

Informal

35 8.9

A way to show strong frustration or disbelief about someone's words and actions

to make a killing

Informal

22 4.9

To earn a lot of money very quickly and easily

Compounds

killing field

NSFW

13 8.8

An area where many people were killed during war or violence

mercy killing

NSFW

6 6.3

Ending a person's life to stop their pain when they are very ill

honor killing

Offensive

5 8.6

The killing of a family member, often a woman or girl, by relatives who think she brought shame

contract killing

Offensive

3 7.9

Murder carried out by a hired person for money

ritual killing

Offensive

1 9.7

An event where someone or an animal is put to death during a religious ceremony to please a god

killing zone

NSFW

1 8.3

An area where many people die, often on a battlefield

drive-by killing

Offensive

1 8.5

An act of shooting someone to death from a moving car

How Funny

killing

Informal

2 5.8

uproarious

1 6.1

hilarious

Informal

256 1.5

funny

∞ 1.0

amusing

174 1.0

Surface Forms

killing positive

Morphology

killing = kill (semi-transparent) = kill + ing

The adjective derives figuratively from 'kill' (as in 'to kill someone with laughter'); the connection to causing a strong effect is present but idiomatic.

Etymology

Killing meaning 'extremely funny' comes from the figurative idea of a joke that 'kills' because it overwhelms people with laughter. So calling a story or joke 'killing' means it makes people laugh very hard.