fake laugh
Insincere social chuckle
A fake laugh is laughter performed rather than felt—the social lubricant deployed when someone's joke falls flat or a boss expects amusement.
It ranges from polite chuckles to exaggerated displays meant to flatter or fit in: Her fake laugh was so obvious it made things worse.
The phrase can also describe the canned laughter on sitcom soundtracks.
- chuckleLow, suppressed laugh
- giggleSoft, silly vocalization
- forcedMade to occur unwillingly
- forced smileInsincere facial expression
- hollowEmpty within
nervous · polite · awkward · snicker · insincere · canned · strained · phony · chortle · not funny · sitcom · grimace · smile · dead eyes · pretend · going through the motions · social · social cues
- Social Pretensepretense, facade, affectation, phoniness, insincerity
- laughtergiggling, chuckling, snickering, giggles, chortling
- Affected Speechaffectation, airs, pretentiousness, posh accent, overenunciation
social function
fake laughuncontrollable laughter
laughing fit · cracking up · crack up · losing it · hysterics
fake, laugh, faked, fakes, faking, faker, fakery, laughs, laughed