Translation guide
How to express 'laugh at' in Japanese, covering mockery, finding something funny, and dismissing with laughter.
To laugh at someone in a mean way, to make fun of them.
The most common verb for 'laugh at' in the sense of mocking or ridiculing. The target is marked with を.
To laugh because something is amusing, without necessarily mocking. Often used with jokes or situations.
To laugh off a suggestion, threat, or idea, showing you don't consider it important.
He laughed at my mistake.
A stronger, more explicit word for mocking or sneering at someone. Often used in written or formal contexts.
They sneered at his proposal.
Literally 'to make a fool of', this phrase means to ridicule or look down on someone. Very common in speech.
He always makes fun of me.
To make someone a laughingstock. Stronger than just laughing at someone.
He was made a laughingstock in class.
I laughed at his joke.
Everyone laughed at that story.
Literally 'see and laugh', used when laughing at something you see (a funny video, a silly face).
I laughed at that video.
To laugh something off, to dismiss with laughter. Common in both speech and writing.
He laughed off my worries.
A formal, literary expression meaning to laugh something away or dismiss it as ridiculous.
He dismissed the criticism with a laugh.
I laughed at his joke.