howler
UK /ˈhaʊlə/ · US /ˈhaʊlɚ/ noun
Forms howlers
- noun That which howls, especially an animal such as a wolf or a howler monkey.
- noun (historical) A person hired to howl in mourning at a funeral.
- noun (slang) A painfully obvious mistake.
- noun (slang) A hilarious joke.
- noun (slang) A bitterly cold day.
- noun (psychology) A person who expresses aggression openly in the form of threats.
- noun (sometimes figurative) A heavy fall.
- noun (slang) A serious accident (especially to come a howler or go a howler; compare come a cropper). “Our hansom came a howler.”
Synonyms
belly laugh sidesplitter thigh-slapper scream wow riot howler monkey
Etymology
From howl + -er. Some senses are derivatives of the intensifier "howling", as in "howling wilderness", (Deuteronomy 32:10)
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “howler”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details