adjective
ludicrous
LOO-dih-krus/ˈluːdɪkrəs/
So foolish or unreasonable as to seem ridiculous.
Trying to pack a full-size sofa into a small suitcase is ludicrous.
Etymology
The playful meaning of ludicrus survives in the earlier English sense “pertaining to play or sport.” The emphasis shifted from amusement to ridicule: something ludicrous is laughable for its foolishness or unreasonableness.
In context
prehistoric heritage as a scavenger has prepared you to eat anything. Anything that is food. So the idea of eating only one kind of food is just sort of inherently ludicrous.
More examples
- They charge a ludicrous price for a tiny sandwich.
- It's ludicrous to blame one person for everyone's mistakes.
- His excuse sounds even more ludicrous the second time.
Forms
ludicrous · more ludicrous · most ludicrous
ludicrously adverb — In a foolish or absurd manner.
ludicrousness noun — The quality of being ridiculously unreasonable.
Similar words
- ridiculous
- Emphasizes deserving mockery rather than being wildly unreasonable.
- absurd
- Emphasizes a lack of logic or common sense.
- preposterous
- Suggests an idea is too unreasonable to take seriously.