LOL
- 1Used to signal light-heartedness or that a statement is not meant seriously, sometimes carrying irony or sarcasm.
I totally bombed the interview, LOL, guess I'll keep searching.
He replied 'LOL sure, whatever you say' in a clearly sarcastic tone.
UsageOften at the end of a message, in lowercase and without a full stop: sure, whatever lol.
Similarhaha
Note
Here the laughter has worn away and only the tone is left. It has even crossed into speech, spelled out letter by letter as "L-O-L." Read it as a shrug, not as literal laughter.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- LOL has entered speech, including pronunciation letter by letter. en.wiktionary.org
- 2Used in informal writing to show that the writer finds something funny or is laughing out loud.
He texted back 'LOL' the moment he read the punchline.
LOL, that photo of your cat wearing sunglasses made me spill my coffee.
UsageOften stands alone after the joke, sometimes with an exclamation mark: LOL!
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Note
The abbreviation is apparently the coinage of the Canadian Wayne Pearson in the early-to-mid 1980s, and it was first recorded in 1989. Used this way it claims real laughter, which sets it apart from the softer, non-serious marker.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The qualified attribution to Canadian Wayne Pearson in the early-to-mid 1980s matches the documented origin account. en.wiktionary.org
- The first recorded use in the laughing-out-loud sense dates to 1989. en.wiktionary.org
- 3To laugh out loud, typically in reaction to something funny seen online or in a message.
She LOLed so hard at the meme that her coworkers turned to look.
I can't help but lol whenever he sends one of those voice notes.
UsageForms: LOLs, LOLing, LOLed, or lowercase lol, lolling. Suits texts and posts, not formal prose.
- 4A single occurrence of the interjection 'LOL' as used or counted in a conversation.
That joke earned more LOLs than anything he'd posted all year.
A single LOL was all the encouragement she needed to keep going.
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Less common meanings
- 5Used as a sign-off in letters and notes to mean 'lots of love'.
He signed every letter home from camp with a cheerful LOL.
SHEESH !!!! ¶ LOL (Laugh out loud) &&&& ¶ LOL (Lots of love, coz I'm a sharing caring kinda gal) ¶ Nikki
2002, Me Here, “Latest Rugby Poll.”UsageMost readers now take it as laughter, so write lots of love or love in full.
Note
A closing that sits where "Love" would, just before the name: "LOL, Dad" is how a father signs off in Adam Gopnik's Through the Children's Gate (2006). The trouble is that the same letters now read first as laughter. Keturah Wasler's Box of Chocolates (2010) records the same confusion: a father's "LOL, Dad" read as laughter until an onlooker suggests "lots of love."
- 6A small, elderly woman, especially as referred to dismissively in medical or informal contexts.
- 7Abbreviation for Loyal Orange Lodge, used as a prefix identifying any individual branch of the Loyal Orange Order.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
These are the first letters of "Laugh Out Loud." Canadian Wayne Pearson seems to have come up with it between the early and mid 1980s, and the earliest recorded use dates from 1989.