Master confusing words with ease
Hilarious vs. Hysterical
Hilarious
/hɪˈleəriəs/Examples:
His stories had everyone in stitches with laughter.The parrot's repeated phrases were utterly hilarious.Anna can't stop giggling at that hilarious video.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Hysterical
/hɪˈsterɪkəl/Examples:
She burst into hysterical laughter at the comedy show.The movie left the audience in hysterical tears.His hysterical rant made the whole bus stare.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
- Both hilarious and hysterical are used to describe something funny, but hysterical can also mean being uncontrollably emotional, which isn't the same as being funny.
- The word hilarious is used to describe something that is extremely funny and makes you laugh a lot, while hysterical might not always be used in a humorous context, it can describe over-the-top emotions.
- When youre laughing so hard that you cant stop, you might say something is hilarious, but if someones reaction is exaggerated beyond reasonable limits, it might be called hysterical'.
- Think of hilarious as a positive way to describe extreme humor, while hysterical can be more neutral or even a negative term when describing uncontrolled emotion.
- If someone looks at a comedy and finds it extremely funny, its called hilarious; if someone is crying uncontrollably, they could be described as hysterical, not hilarious'.
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