sidesplitter
- noun
- /ˈsaɪdˌsplɪtər/
- Informal
:
chiste desternillante
- Everyone at the party was in stitches after hearing that hilarious sidesplitter about the cat.
Examples
-
The comedian told a sidesplitter that had the entire audience roaring with laughter.
-
My appreciation of the short form was enhanced when I discovered the quirky humor of Damon Runyon and Ring Lardner, clearly at their peak in a twenty-page sidesplitter.
Fiction book (2001) -
His sidesplitter about the lost keys made us laugh until we cried.
Synonyms
33
4.9
A very funny person, story, or situation that makes people laugh
26
6.3
A very funny person or thing that makes people laugh
14
1.0
A short story or remark that makes people laugh
1
6.8
A very funny joke that makes people laugh loudly
1
6.6
A very funny joke that makes people laugh loudly
1
8.1
A very funny story or joke that makes people laugh a lot
A joke or mistake that makes people laugh a lot
How Funny
Surface Forms
Morphology
sidesplitter = sidesplitting (semi-transparent) = side + split + er
Formed from 'side' + 'split' with agentive '-er'; the meaning is a figurative one ('causing sides to split with laughter'), so the components are clear but the idiomatic metaphor is needed to fully grasp the sense.
Etymology
The word sidesplitter comes from the picture of laughing so hard your side would split, from the old phrase 'split one's sides' for laughing a lot. So a sidesplitter is something extremely funny that makes people laugh a lot.